Learn how to personalize e mail with mail merge in Gmail

Learn to mix Google Contacts and Gmail multi-send to merge names into individualized emails.

This hand-drawn illustration represents the fields added during a mail merge. — Picture: Andy Wolber

In late 2022, Google added the flexibility to personalize Gmail messages despatched from multi-send mode. This implies you could now insert a @firstname, @lastname, @fullname or @e mail area inside a multi-send e mail, and the system will merge the corresponding area information from a recipient’s Google Contact file. Extra importantly, when Google introduced the characteristic, the corporate additionally indicated that “help for customized mail merge tags utilizing spreadsheets” can be added sooner or later.

Multi-send mode is on the market to individuals who use:

Google Workspace Particular person.
Google Workspace Enterprise Commonplace or Plus.
Google Workspace Enterprise Starter, Commonplace or Plus.
Google Workspace Schooling Commonplace or Plus editions.

Moreover, a Google Workspace administrator should allow the characteristic by setting Permit Multi-send Mode to ON within the Admin console at Apps | Google Workspace | Gmail | Person Settings | Multi-Ship mode.

Table of Contents

Learn how to handle a recipient checklist in Google Contacts

A Gmail multi-send merge attracts from information in Google Contacts, so be sure to have appropriate info for every contact area you propose to make use of in your multi-send merge. If it is advisable to import info into Google Contacts, you could obtain a Google-provided template to be sure to have information within the appropriate fields for a .csv import. Open Google Contacts in a desktop-class browser to evaluate the information fields (Determine A) used within the mail merge course of:

Prefix
First Title
Final Title
Suffix
E mail

Determine A

This screen shot shows the first step in the Gmail mail merge. — First, make certain the information for every recipient is appropriate in Google Contacts with a evaluate of identify and e mail fields. For ease of use, you could need to label contacts, so you could later choose that label so as to add all related contacts in an e mail recipient area.

First, make certain the information for every recipient is appropriate in Google Contacts with a evaluate of identify and e mail fields. For ease of use, you could need to label contacts, so you could later choose that label so as to add all related contacts in an e mail recipient area.

Most often, additionally, you will need to create a contact label (e.g., Publication as proven in Determine A), then add that label to each contact you want to embrace on that checklist. This makes it potential to then choose the label whereas within the recipient area in Gmail so as to add all contacts with that label to the recipient checklist. Chances are you’ll choose the checkbox to the left of every contact for a set of contacts, choose the label icon (above the checklist of contacts), then select your contact label and choose Apply so as to add the label to the chosen set of contacts.

SEE: Learn how to handle your Google Contacts (TechRepublic)

Be certain that your recipients lists don’t exceed Gmail sending limits or guidelines. One notable numeric constraint is that the utmost variety of recipients for a multi-send e mail is 1,500 e mail addresses. Do you have to ship this amount of e mail from an organizational deal with, you’ll be capable of ship 500 extra e mail messages that day earlier than you attain the each day general restrict of two,000 messages.

SEE: Learn how to ship mass emails from Gmail (TechRepublic)

The opposite vital rule is to not ship spam: Be certain that the folks you e mail are individuals who need to obtain your e mail. By default, each multi-send e mail contains an “Unsubscribe” hyperlink that permits a recipient to take away themselves from this checklist. Nevertheless, while you ship e mail internally — to folks inside your group — unsubscribing might not be an possibility. In different phrases, folks could not be capable of unsubscribe from a multi-send inner message, resembling these less-than-useful emails from a frontrunner in your group who has mastered the artwork of the meaningless missive. For those who actually want to by no means see e mail from a specific individual in your group, you could possibly configure a filter to archive chosen emails routinely.

Learn how to insert mail merge fields in a multi-send Gmail

To create a brand new multi-send e mail, you’ll want to make use of a desktop-class browser, resembling Google Chrome as follows:

Go to Gmail.
Choose the Compose button within the higher left. (If the button isn’t displayed, choose the three horizontal line menu possibility within the higher left nook after which choose Mail.) Alternatively, if keyboard shortcuts have been enabled, press the c key.
Choose the multi-send icon from the lower-right portion of the compose menu icons, as proven by the crimson field in Determine B. The icon shows as an envelope positioned in entrance of one other envelope. A textual content field conveys that “You’re utilizing multi-send mode” together with extra textual content and a hyperlink to be taught extra.

Determine B

This screen shot shows the second step in a Gmail mail merge. — Enter multi-send mode, then choose recipients, add a topic and enter content material. Kind the @ key within the e mail physique textual content to entry mail merge tag choices, which let you insert customized merge fields.

Add recipients (e.g., a set of recipients through a Google Contact label), an e mail topic and content material, a lot as you would possibly in any commonplace Gmail.
Transfer your cursor within the textual content space of the e-mail to the place you want to insert your merge area, then kind @ to entry obtainable mail merge tags, as proven by the crimson circle in Determine B. As of March 2023, these embrace @firstname, @lastname, @fullname and @e mail.
Choose the specified e mail tag from the checklist.

After you might have entered your whole multi-send e mail content material, choose the Proceed button. At that time, you could choose:

Cancel, which lets you return to enhancing your e mail,
Ship preview, to convey a replica of your e mail to your individual Inbox, so you could fastidiously evaluate the e-mail content material, or
Ship all, to carry out the merge, which sends an e mail to every chosen recipient.

Since, by definition, multi-send emails go to many recipients, make certain to preview each message earlier than sending. Inevitably, typos, errors, omissions and incorrect dates/instances have a tendency to stay nicely hidden and solely reveal themselves after you press Ship. Use the Ship preview possibility, mixed with cautious proofreading to attenuate errors.

If a number of recipients lack information in a merge tag you might have used, the system will assist you to enter a default different (e.g., textual content to make use of when no first or final identify is current) or return to the draft and modify the recipient checklist to both add the lacking information or take away the recipient. For instance, in case your e mail begins, “Hello @firstname!” you would possibly select “there” for contacts that lack an entered first identify, which leads to “Hello there!” textual content to these contacts.