{"id":16793,"date":"2021-07-25T10:27:45","date_gmt":"2021-07-25T10:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/?p=16793"},"modified":"2021-07-25T11:37:05","modified_gmt":"2021-07-25T11:37:05","slug":"fix-mail-merge-problems-ms-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/fix-mail-merge-problems-ms-word\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Mail Merge Problems in Microsoft Word and How GMass Can Help"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you tired of formatting your word mail merge for hours, only to find that the output you want is formatted incorrectly?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Microsoft Word’s mail merge tool is powerful, but it does have its limitations. It is not well equipped to handle mail merges, which can lead to formatting issues. In this article, we will talk about the limitations of MS word’s mail merge tool, and then show you how GMass can help with these challenges.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

GMass is a Chrome extension that automates mass email campaigns while handling Microsoft Word mail merge limitations flawlessly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Common Word mail merge problems and how to fix them<\/strong><\/h2>\n

1. Mail merge formatting issues in MS Word<\/span><\/h3>\n

MS Word causes problems with the numeric format in mail merge campaigns.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When performing a mail merge with Microsoft Word and Excel Worksheet, numeric values may lose their formatting. This leads to incorrectly formatted percentages, currency, values, and zip codes in mail merge campaigns.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, the same value will appear differently in Excel and Word: 10000 in Excel may appear 9999.99999999996 in MS Word during the mail merge.<\/span><\/p>\n

While there are some workarounds to these Word Mail Merge problems such as the TEXT () or ROUND() functions, they have their own limitations.<\/span><\/p>\n

TEXT () Function: In your Excel document change numbers or dates as text that will match the format expected by MS Word.<\/span><\/p>\n

Limitations:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The font, color, and size change during the mail merge process.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. You need to learn additional formatting codes to get the desired output<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. The values get converted to text, so they can’t be used in calculations.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    ROUND() function: Alternatively, you can use the ROUND() function instead of TEXT(). The ROUND function is great because the values can still be used for further calculations, however:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. The ROUND function fails to preserve the currency symbol and comma<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. The ROUND function can cause the wrong number of decimal points to show up on Mail Merge.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Solution<\/b><\/h4>\n

      GMass eliminates the most common formatting issues associated with mail merges in MS Excel and Word by leveraging G-Suite (Google Workplace) strengths.<\/span><\/p>\n

      The integration of GMass with Gmail and Google spreadsheets keeps the formatting intact which is difficult to achieve with the MS Word mail merge process. This integration also allows for the values to stay intact, ensuring accurate formats of numbers, currency, percentages, and zip codes.<\/span><\/p>\n

      If you’re looking for a complete mail merge suite with an easy Gmail integration, then take a look at GMass.<\/span><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      2. Mismatch of personalization tags<\/span><\/h3>\n

      In the event that your personalization tags are mismatched and you have hundreds of recipients, you could end up sending something like this:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \"MS<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Solution<\/b><\/h4>\n

      GMass Chrome extension lets you work directly from the Gmail interface to eliminate tag mismatch issues. It provides a dropdown menu in the <\/span>Settings panel<\/span><\/a> to insert personalization variables. You can also save your emails as drafts before sending them for a double check!<\/span><\/p>\n

      \"Fix<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      If you know some recipients will have the variable \u201cFirst Name\u201d while others will not, you can set a fallback value to use when personalization variables are blank. For example, {FirstName|Friend}. If an address has the variable “FirstName” available, it will be used; otherwise “Friend” would be used.<\/span><\/p>\n

      \"word<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      3. MS Word Mail Merge Spacing Issues<\/span><\/h3>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Mail merge can be a frustrating task for most MS Word users. it doesn’t always work and sometimes the formatting is improperly rendered, leading to spacing issues. Make sure to have spaces separating all fields in your MS Word document or else you’ll end up with combinations of words that are indistinguishable without spacing.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Missing\/ Extra Spaces<\/span><\/h4>\n

      When using the mail merge function in Microsoft Word, it can be difficult to determine how many spaces you have typed. The problem is more noticeable with large documents, where these errors might be difficult to spot. To avoid spacing issues in Word mail merge, make sure there are no missing, leading, or trailing spaces before or after the merged data fields.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Unwanted line spaces<\/span><\/h4>\n

      There is a known problem with Microsoft Word that leads to uneven line spacing and unintended paragraph breaks when performing the mail merges.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Microsoft Word inserts extra space before and after paragraphs by default. When typing a mail merge letter in Microsoft word, if you set up the line spacing to “multiple” or add any merge fields in paragraph spacing, the mail merge output may produce extra lines.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Solution<\/b><\/h4>\n

      To fix the MS Word spacing issues, follow the steps below:<\/span><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Press CTRL+ A to select your entire document.<\/span><\/li>\n
      2. Click on the Home Tab<\/span><\/li>\n
      3. Under the paragraph settings, click on the small arrow located in the right-hand corner<\/span><\/li>\n
      4. The Paragraph dialog will open<\/span><\/li>\n
      5. Under the \u201cIndents and Spacing\u201d tab, change the line spacing settings.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Want a simple solution? Consider using GMass! GMass works directly in Gmail with Google spreadsheets which eliminates these spacing issues entirely.<\/b><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        4. Word Mail Merge Setup Problems<\/span><\/h3>\n

        To send the merged document as an email message, you need to manually set up Microsoft Outlook or Gmail with MS Word. This can be time-consuming and confusing for most users.<\/span><\/p>\n

        Here are the most common Word Mail Merge issues and troubleshooting steps:<\/span><\/p>\n

        4.1 Word Mail merge not picking up all the records<\/span><\/h4>\n

        There are two underlying reasons for this. The first is an improperly formatted MS Word document and the second is improper placement of the \u201cnext record\u201d merge field. To fix this, ensure that the <\/span>‘next record’ merge fields are placed correctly in your <\/span>MS word document. <\/span>Alternatively, you can convert the excel sheet to a Google spreadsheet and use GMass for the mail merge<\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        4.2 Word mail merge data source problem<\/span><\/h4>\n

         <\/p>\n

        If you use an xlsx file as the data source in a mail merge, Word will not allow simultaneous editing. If this file is stored in a shared folder and someone else has it already opened, MS word will have only read-only permissions and the mail merge request will fail. To solve this problem, store your mail merge documents in a local folder and ensure there are no other open word documents using the same data source file. <\/span>Convert your Excel data into a Google spreadsheet and integrate it with GMass for a simpler solution.<\/b><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        4.3 Mail merge next record not working<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

         <\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Place your cursor where the first instruction should appear in the document.<\/span><\/li>\n
        2. Go to Mailings tab > Rules > select the Next Record.<\/span><\/li>\n
        3. Add a merge field to insert the data you want next<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

           <\/p>\n

          To make this rule work, use default templates from MS Word. Or, you can use GMass for better personalization.<\/span><\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          4.4 Mail merge only showing\/printing first page<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

           <\/p>\n

          At the final step of the MS Word mail merge wizard, in the merge section, select \u201cComplete the Merge\u201d and then select \u201cEdit Individual Letters\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          4.5 Mail merge to email greyed out on mac<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

          When creating a mail merge on a Mac, you must use Outlook as the default email program if you want to send out mail merges. Otherwise, there will be issues in using the Merge to Email function. You can change your default email program in Mail.app General Preferences:<\/span><\/p>\n

          How to change your default email app to Outlook on a Mac<\/span><\/h5>\n