Troubleshooting Microsoft Word Mail Merge Issues

While using VanillaSoft's Mail Merge feature, you may notice that some or all fields are not populating. Follow this article for some helpful troubleshooting steps to ensure your Mail Merge document works as expected. For more information on setting up a Mail Merge document, view our Setup Mail Merge Document article. 

 

  1. Ensure that the Microsoft Word document you are using is compatible with Microsoft Word 2007 or above, or you save the document as a .docx file type.
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  2. When adding the Mail Merge document to your Document Library, ensure that Mail Merge Template (Word) is selected in the Select the type of document you want to import drop-down.
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  3. To verify that your Mail Merge document is added to your Document Library properly, you can open the Filter Document Library drop-down, select Mail Merge Template (Word), then click Show.
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    • You will only see documents that are a Mail Merge Template (Word) file type.
  4. Ensure curly brackets surround all pre-defined fields.
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  5. Ensure forward slashes surround all custom fields.
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  6. Copy the text from Microsoft Word and paste it into a plain text editor (such as Notepad). Then copy the text from your plain text editor and paste it into Microsft Word. Doing this will remove any hidden formatting. Save your Microsoft Word document and try the Mail Merge process again.
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  7. If your text has any formatting (bold, italics, or underline for example), ensure the surrounding brackets have the same formatting.
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    • Here is an example of proper formatting. Note how the brackets have the same formatting as the text. 
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    • Here is an example of improper formatting. This document will return with errors.

If you are still having issues with your Mail Merge document, please Contact Technical Support for further investigation. 

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