What is mail merge?
Mail merge is a way to make many personal copies of one document. You write a letter, label or email once, and the software fills in each person’s name and details from a list.
Quick answer
A mail merge combines a list (usually a spreadsheet) with a template that has placeholders like {FirstName}. It makes one copy per row, with each placeholder replaced by that person’s details. People use it for letters, mailing labels, envelopes and personal emails.
How mail merge works
Every mail merge has three parts:
- A data source: your list. Usually a spreadsheet in Excel or Google Sheets, with column names in the first row (FirstName, Email, Address) and one person per row. It can also be your Outlook contacts or a CSV file.
- A template: the letter, label or email you write once. Where something changes from person to person, you put a merge field, a placeholder named after a column. Word shows it as
«FirstName»; many other tools use{FirstName}. - The merge: the software goes down the list and, for each row, swaps every field for that person's value. Ten rows, ten documents. Five hundred rows, five hundred.
The result looks hand-written for each person, but you only wrote it once.
What you can make with it
- Letters: donor thank-you letters, rent increase notices, school letters home, offer letters.
- Mailing labels and envelopes: addresses printed onto a sheet of Avery labels or straight onto envelopes, for holiday cards, wedding invitations or a mailing.
- Personal emails: one email per person, each with their name and details, instead of one email to a crowd.
- Certificates and name badges: a course certificate with each student's name and date, or badges for an event.
- Invoices and statements: each customer's amount and due date dropped into a standard layout.
A simple example
Say your spreadsheet looks like this:
| FirstName | Event | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jane | jane@example.com | Spring workshop | May 4 |
| Sam | sam@example.org | Spring workshop | May 4 |
| Priya | priya@example.net | Open house | May 11 |
And your template says:
Hi {FirstName},
Thanks for signing up for the {Event} on {Date}. Doors open at 6 pm.
See you there,
Alex
The merge makes three emails. Priya's reads:
Hi Priya,
Thanks for signing up for the Open house on May 11. Doors open at 6 pm.
See you there,
Alex
If a cell is empty, a good tool lets you set a fallback, so a missing name gives "Hi there," and not "Hi ,".
Where you can do a mail merge
- Microsoft Word: the classic way, on the Mailings tab. Handles letters, labels, envelopes and email. See how to mail merge from Excel to Word.
- Outlook: Word sends merged emails through classic Outlook. New Outlook has a simpler version. See mail merge in Outlook.
- Gmail: paid Google Workspace plans (such as Business Standard and Plus) have mail merge built in: click the mail merge button next to the To line and type
@to add fields like@firstname. It allows up to 1,500 recipients a day and adds an unsubscribe link for you. Free Gmail accounts don't have it. - It previews every email, warns about missing names, bad addresses and duplicates, and gives you the emails as files to open in Outlook or Apple Mail, a CSV, or a send-one-by-one checklist.
- Add-ons and email marketing services: for regular newsletters or big lists, a dedicated service handles sending, unsubscribes and reports.
Mail merge vs Bcc vs a newsletter service
| Method | Best for | Personal? |
|---|---|---|
| Bcc | One quick note to a small group | No. Everyone gets the same email, and it can look like spam |
| Mail merge | Tens to a few hundred people, one-off or occasional | Yes. Each person gets their own email with their details |
| Newsletter service | Regular marketing to big lists | Yes, plus unsubscribes and reports built in |
For Bcc, see how to email many people without showing their addresses.
Tips for a clean merge
- Clean the list first. Remove duplicates, fix typos and fill in missing names. A merge copies every mistake hundreds of times.
- Preview several rows, especially ones with long names, empty cells or unusual characters.
- Send a test to yourself before the real thing.
- Mind sending limits: about 500 a day on a personal Gmail account. Split bigger lists over several days.
- Marketing email has rules. In the US, the CAN-SPAM Act requires a way to opt out and your postal address, even for business-to-business email.
Questions people ask
- What is a mail merge in simple terms?
- It is a way to make many personal copies of one document. You write a letter, label or email once with placeholders like {FirstName}, and the software fills them in from a list, one copy per person.
- What is mail merge used for?
- Personal letters, mailing labels, envelopes, certificates, invoices and personal emails to a list of people.
- What are merge fields?
- Placeholders in your template named after the columns in your list, such as «FirstName» in Word or {FirstName} in other tools. Each one is replaced with that person's value.
- Is mail merge the same as Bcc?
- No. Bcc sends one identical email to everyone. A mail merge sends each person their own email, with their own name and details.
- Do I need Microsoft Word to do a mail merge?
- No. Gmail has mail merge on paid Workspace plans, and free browser tools like the EmailNa mail merge tool work with a CSV file.