How To Mail Merge In Outlook: The Ultimate Guide

Do you know how to perform a mail merge in Outlook?

Using mail merge in Outlook allows you to send personalized emails to multiple recipients.

It’s one of the fastest ways to produce customized emails, manually tailoring each message. With Outlook mail merge, you can personalize emails by the recipient’s name, address, and other specific details.

In this blog post, we’ll show you how to send bulk emails from Outlook using two different methods:

Using Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, and Outlook)
Using EmailMerge for Outlook (Outlook only)

If you want to tailor your emails to make them unique and relevant, this tutorial on mail merge in Outlook is perfect for you.

What is Mail Merge in Outlook?
What are the Benefits of Mail Merge?
How to Mail Merge in Microsoft Word, Excel & Outlook
What Mail Merge Limitations Are There?
What are the Alternatives to Mail Merge?
What are the Benefits of EmailMerge for Outlook?
How to Send Mail Merges Using EmailMerge for Outlook
Use EmailMerge to Mail Merge Directly in Outlook
Frequently Asked Questions About Mail Merge

What is Mail Merge in Outlook?

According to research by McKinsey & Company, 71% of consumers said that a personalized message was a key factor in prompting their consideration for a brand.

Using a mail merge, you can send personalized email messages to contacts without editing each message manually, quickly driving performance and better response rates.

Two main components are involved in the mail merge process: the email template containing the main content, and the data source containing a list of recipient information that can be used to personalize the message. The data source can be an Excel spreadsheet, a CSV file, or a database.

Can I Just Use BCC for Mass Emails?

The short answer is NO.

We don’t advise using BCC for mass emails in Outlook due to several drawbacks:

It prevents personalization, making emails feel generic and less engaging
Emails sent via BCC are more likely to be flagged as spam, reducing their deliverability.
There’s a greater risk of accidentally exposing recipients’ email addresses.
No easy unsubscribe option, leading to potential compliance issues.

What are the Benefits of Mail Merge?

The benefits of using Outlook for your mail merge campaigns include:

Personalization and Customization

Mail merge allows you to personalize each email or document by inserting specific information, such as the recipient’s name, address, and other relevant details. It simplifies mass email communication by making it quick and efficient to send personalized bulk emails without manually composing each one.

Shallow Learning Curve

You can quickly perform a mail merge in a few steps without needing to learn how to set up complicated email marketing platforms. The entire process is even more straightforward with a specialized mail merge tool like EmailMerge.

Saves Time

By automating the process of creating and sending personalized emails to a large group of recipients, mail merge can save businesses significant time and effort.

Easily Edit Your Emails

It’s easy to edit your emails, as any changes made in your main merge document will reflect in the emails meant for your bulk email recipients. Mail merge ensures accuracy by eliminating the need for manual entry, which can result in errors.

How to Mail Merge in Microsoft Word, Excel & Outlook

Please note: This tutorial is created using Office 365.

Creating a mail merge in Word lets you send an Outlook mass email from Excel spreadsheets. This is an efficient way of sending mail merges if you aren’t ready to invest in paid email marketing software.

1. Create Your Mail Merge Document

Open Microsoft Word and create a new blank document.

In the menu bar, click Mailings > Start Mail Merge > E-mail Messages.

Type your message in the Word document.

2. Set Up Your Mail Merge Data in Excel

After setting up your email message in the Word document, you need to create a mailing list. The mailing list is your data source, listing all recipient names and other details as required.

The mailing list can be an existing list, like a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, Outlook contact list, Access database, or another type of database. In this tutorial, we’ll use an Excel spreadsheet.

Your data source spreadsheet should have column headers for the data you want to personalize, such as First Name, Last Name, Email, and so on.

3. Link the Mailing Data with Email Message

Now, we’ll dynamically link our mailing list data source from Excel to Word to complete the mail merge process.

On your mail merge document, go to Select Recipients > Use an Existing List. Select the existing Excel spreadsheet you created (it’s also possible to create a new list or use your Outlook contacts folder).

To add personalization to your email message, insert merge fields that represent the column data.

Select Insert Merge Field to add your desired merge field into the text.

4. Preview and Send the Finished Messages

You can preview your messages to see how they would appear to the recipients using the Preview function.

Once you’re happy with everything, it’s time to send out your bulk emails.

Click Finish & Merge > Send Email Messages.

Add an eye-catching title to the message subject line box and click OK.

Your bulk email messages will now be sent from Microsoft Outlook. You can view them in your Outbox folder.

What Mail Merge Limitations Are There?

Although sending bulk mail messages using Microsoft Office Suite is free, it has its limitations. These are just a few reasons why the default method isn’t the best way to perform a mail merge.

It Takes Too Long to Set Up

By default, mail merge isn’t that easy to use. The feature isn’t directly available in Outlook, so you must switch between Word, Excel, and Outlook to accomplish a single goal.

You Can’t Send Attachments

Text is only one part of every email message. Default mail merge doesn’t include the ability to send attachments, making it more difficult to get messages across.

There are No Tracking Features

You’ve sent your emails out, but how do you know if anyone’s seen them? Without the ability to track details, it can be difficult to tell if your emails are making the impact you hope they are.

What are the Alternatives to Outlook’s Built-In Mail Merge?

There are a few Word mail merge alternatives that can help you save time on client communication. These make it easy to do a mail merge with Microsoft Outlook alone, so you’ll never worry about Word mail merge not working again.

EmailMerge for Outlook is a much more practicable solution for sending personalized mail merge messages using your existing Outlook contacts, Excel lists, Salesforce contacts, or Access Databases.

What are the Benefits of EmailMerge for Outlook?

EmailMerge for Outlook is much easier to use than default mail merge and comes with over a dozen features designed to make your company communication more efficient. Here are just a few of the fantastic benefits of the program.

Handle Everything in One Program

With EmailMerge, there’s no need to write individual documents in Word or make a new data source in Excel for each part of your mailing list. Create emails directly in Outlook and select recipients individually straight from the wizard.

Easily Schedule Emails

EmailMerge comes with a built-in email scheduling function. It’s a must to bypass your ISP’s limits on the number of emails sent per batch (effectively an Outlook mail merge limit).

Send the Same and Personalized Attachments

EmailMerge lets you add attachments to mail merge messages. You can even use field data to create a mail merge with different attachments in Outlook.

CC or BCC Multiple People

With each mail merge, CC recipients and BCC recipients can both be added alongside the primary recipient. Quickly bring in sales managers or assistants to help customers from their own email addresses.

Track Who Has Clicked Your Emails

EmailMerge can provide an email notification whenever someone has clicked your email messages. With this data, you can better understand your customer base and optimize future emails to draw more interest. Please note that tracking requires a monthly/yearly subscription to EmailCaddie.

How to send Mail Merges using EmailMerge for Outlook

If you’ve ever wondered how to merge emails in Outlook directly, EmailMerge is your answer. This software lets you easily create batch email messages in Outlook without using Word.

1. Create Your Email Message

Download and install EmailMerge. You can also install the trial version of EmailMerge to see how it works for you.

Open Outlook after installing the software. You should see the EmailMerge button on the Outlook ribbon under the Standss Outlook Addins. Click on the EmailMerge icon.

The mail merge wizard will appear.

To create a merge in EmailMerge, click Create a new merge.

You can select a template or just start with a blank email.

2. Select Your Data Source

In the next screen, you can choose where your contact information will come from. You can select from a variety of data sources. In this tutorial, we’ve selected an Excel sheet as our data source.

Then, set which data fields contain the email address, name and company. It’s possible to send different attachments to different recipients with EmailMerge.

After this, select the recipients from the data source to which you want to send a message.

3. Add Mail Merge To, CC, BCC & Attachments

EmailMerge offers the flexibility to CC or BCC-related contacts in each email. You can also mail merge with different attachments for each person.

For instance, if you’re emailing your clients, you can automatically CC each client’s assistant on the same email, ensuring that all relevant parties are kept in the loop.

Similarly, if you need to send the right invoice to the right customer, you can use EmailMerge to attach the appropriate pdf to each email.

In EmailMerge, you can do this through the Select fields for Attachments/CC/BCC feature.

Learn how to send bulk emails from Outlook using Excel with attachments and how to send mail merges with BCC and CC using the guides below:

How to Mail Merge with To and CC or BCC fields in Outlook.

Sending Out Unique Attachments to each Recipient using EmailMerge.

4. Create Your Email with Merge Fields

If the information for the merge field doesn’t exist in the data source, you can specify what information should be used instead.

Continue with the EmailMerge wizard and compose your email.

EmailMerge lets you add an unsubscribe link that allows users to opt out of receiving your emails, helping you comply with the CAN-Spam Act and GDPR regulations.

Once you finish writing your email, click on Resume Email Merge.

5. Preview Your Messages

You will be taken to the following wizard. Click Next.

6. Set Your Sending Options

In the next step, you can choose between different sending options.

You can send your merges via a scheduler or just send them away immediately after finishing. If you have to send a large number of merges, you can send them via the scheduler and the scheduler will automatically shut down your computer once the merge process is complete.

After setting up your sending options and merge tracking options, click Finish.

That’s it.

Just follow simple steps to send out tailor-made emails directly within Outlook. No need to jump between three different applications.

Use EmailMerge to Mail Merge Directly in Outlook

EmailMerge lets you send out personalized mass emails directly from Outlook in just a few clicks!

Are you interested in learning more about EmailMerge? Reach out to us via sales@standss.com if you want to send professional and personalized emails.

Download the 30-day free trial version of EmailMerge and see what it can do for you. No credit card information is required.

Frequently Asked Questions About Mail Merge

What is Mail Merge Used For?

Mail merge is used to send personalized emails to large groups of people using a data source such as an Excel spreadsheet or Outlook contacts. It helps you save time and reduce errors by automating the process of sending emails in bulk.

How Do I Do a Mail Merge in Word?

To send a mail merge in Word, go to the mailings tab and select Start Mail Merge > E-Mail Messages. Write your email, then choose Select Recipients > Use an Existing List. Insert your merge fields, then click Finish & Merge > Send Email Messages to deliver your emails.

Where is Mail Merge in Outlook?

Mail merge isn’t in Outlook by default. To perform a mail merge within Outlook, you must download a mail merge tool such as EmailMerge.

How Do You Do a Mail Merge in Outlook?

To send a mass email from Outlook, download EmailMerge. This will add a handy button in the toolbar to create mail merges in Outlook from Excel files and other data sources.

Can You Mail Merge With Outlook Online?

EmailMerge works in Outlook Web App, Office 365, Outlook for Mac, New Outlook, Outlook 2021, 2019, and 2016.

Can You Add Attachments to Mail Merge?

To create a mail merge in Outlook with attachments, use EmailMerge. Our add-on lets you add both generic and personalized attachments to mail merge emails.

Can You CC on Mail Merge?

While you can’t CC or BCC in default Mail Merge, EmailMerge lets you easily add extra recipients when you perform mail merge.

How Many Emails Can Be Sent at Once in Outlook?

There’s no limit on how many emails you can send at once with EmailMerge, but your ISP may limit the number of emails sent per batch. EmailMerge provides a mass email scheduling function to get around this restriction.

Does Mail Merge Have a Limit?

Outlook itself doesn’t have a sending limit. However, the number of emails sent out at once will be limited by your ISP, which EmailMerge’s bulk scheduling feature can help get around.

Does Mail Merge Go to Spam?

Like other emails, mail merge messages can be at risk of entering the spam folder. EmailMerge helps prevent this by including unsubscribe links and letting you select and deselect specific recipients from your data source. This reduces the risk of unintended recipients marking your email as spam.

Does Mail Merge Include a Signature in Outlook?

Mail merge doesn’t include signatures by default, but you can manually add a signature to your email document if required.

Mail Merge In Outlook: The Ultimate Guide (2025) – Standss