Trying to merge email from Word to Outlook on Mac not working

Anonymous
2020-07-16T17:33:12+00:00

I have used the Merge to Email feature in Word to merge emails to Outlook hundreds of time.  It isn't currently working.  I use a Mac.

I've restarted my computer.

I've deleted Microsoft Office apps and reinstalled

I've created a new document with no formatting

I've changed fonts (to Calibir Light, to Times New Roman)

Have tried with two different email accounts and two different computers within my organizatoin

and still nothing....

It will either send one email to the first name in my Excel listing of emails or nothing at all.  Always get the same error message.

Please help.  And thanks.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2020-08-06T06:55:09+00:00

The issue has been fixed in the 16.40 update that will be released on patch Tuesday next week.

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-07-28T19:08:08+00:00

    I followed the steps to downgrade to v16.38 (20061401) and confirmed Outlook and Word are in this previous version. However, I'm still getting the same errors outlined here.

    "Word was unable to mail your document." then

    "Word could not finish merging these documents or inserting this database."

    Is there another workaround?

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-07-28T16:18:24+00:00

    I still get the same error upon completing the merge.  And even after renaming the newer version of Outlook and installing the earlier version, the earlier version of Word still tries to call the later, renamed, version of Outlook

    Running Catalina version 10.15.6 (19G73)

    I had this problem as well, and resolved it by going to the Applications folder and starting the 16.38 versions manually. Hope that helps you.

    • Paul

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-07-28T15:49:17+00:00

    Any advances? Problem persists.

    Thank you!

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-07-26T00:56:50+00:00

    Hi Lesley,

    I can confirm I meet the same scenario as you described when performing mail merge in the current latest version of Word for Mac 16.39(200713). As there are multiple users reporting this issue in the community, I would like to make a summary on this issue to help other members quickly identify the issue.

    Issue Symptom:

    When using mail merge in Word for Mac, it will prompt you with the following error message:

     

    Issue Environment:

    Word for Mac version 16.39(200713)

    Outlook for Mac version 16.39(200713)

    Workaround:

    Currently, the only workaround for this issue is to use the previous version of Word & Outlook application.

    A quick method to install the previous version of Word and Outlook:

    1.Go to Finder > Applications > Find Word application.

    2.Rename Word & Outlook to Word 16.39 & Outlook 16.39 or something else.

    3.Download the version 16.38 installation package from the link below:

       Office for Mac version 16.38(20061401)

    4.Follow the guideline and finish the installation.

    5.Go back to the Find > Application, you will see 2 new applications named as Microsoft Word & Microsoft Outlook and the version is 16.38, use this version as a temporary workaround.

    Issue status:

    As we have received multiple reports on this issue, and we could also reproduce this issue in our test environment. We will involve more resource for further investigation on this issue. Meanwhile, it's also recommended for you to submit the feedback in Office application.

    How do I give feedback on Microsoft Office?

    If there are any updates on this issue, we will post back in this thread ASAP.

    Appreciate for your understanding.

    Regards,

    Alex Chen

    updated at 7:07 PM 7/19/2020 UTC+8

    still will not complete the mail merge word attempts to open outlook version 16.39 I have the correct one chosen in the mail preferences very frustrating I'm afraid to delete outlook 16.39

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