How can I find a record of sent emails when using mail merge and sending through Word?

Even though the messages were created by executing the Mail Merge in Word, they would have been sent by Outlook.

What version of Outlook are you using?

If you are using the "New Outlook" it is not MAPI compliant and hence cannot send the messages generated by the execution of the Mail Merge.

If you have Outlook Classic on your machine, the messages would have accumulated in the Outbox of that version of Outlook and under normal circumstances, they will be sent if you start that version of Outlook.

Dear @Blackford, Blakely,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum.

I understand you’re experiencing an unexpected issue with Mail Merge in Word. As a forum moderator, I genuinely wish I could directly access your account or delve into the backend systems to diagnose and fix this for you. However, our role here is limited to providing general guidance and solutions that can be applied by users.  

The most complete record you have is the original Word document combined with your data source (Excel file).

• Original Word Document: This holds the email body and formatting.
• Data Source (e.g., Excel): This holds the recipient list and all the personalized data fields (like names, departments, etc.).

By looking at these two files together, you can reconstruct exactly what was sent to whom.

From your description, I assume you're using New Outlook. Mail Merge relies on MAPI (Messaging Application Programming Interface), a critical technology that connects Word and Outlook during the sending process. Unfortunately, New Outlook currently does not support MAPI, which affects how Mail Merge operates:

1. Emails may still be sent, but they won’t appear in Sent Items 
2. Certain advanced functionalities may not work as expected 

This issue does not exist in Classic Outlook, where Mail Merge works as designed. 

For reference: Feature comparison between new Outlook and classic Outlook - Microsoft Support

For all future Mail Merges to Email, you need to change a setting in your Classic Outlook for Windows to force it to save all messages, regardless of how they were triggered.

1: Access Outlook Options

1. Open your Classic Outlook for Windows.
2. Go to File > Options.
3. Select Mail from the left pane.

2: Adjust the Send Message Setting

1. Scroll down to the section titled "Save messages."
2. Ensure that the following box is checked: "Automatically save copies of messages in the Sent Items folder"

Once this setting is enabled, your future merged emails will appear in your Sent Items folder immediately after the merge process completes.

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this. Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments so I can continue to support you. I'm looking forward to your reply.

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To find a record of sent emails when using mail merge in Word, you can follow these steps:

1. Check the Sent Items Folder in Outlook: Even if you sent the emails through Word, they should typically appear in your Outlook Sent Items folder. If they do not appear there, it may be due to specific settings.
2. Verify Mail Merge Settings: Ensure that your mail merge settings in Word are configured correctly to send emails. The emails should be sent using the default email account configured in Outlook.
3. Use MAPI to Access Sent Items: If you are familiar with programming, you can use MAPI (Messaging Application Programming Interface) to programmatically access sent messages. This would involve using the IMsgStore::CompareEntryIDs method to locate sent messages.
4. Check for Deleted or Moved Messages: If you have deleted the messages after sending or moved them to another folder, they may not be in the Sent Items folder. You can check the Deleted Items folder or any other folders where you might have moved them.

If you still cannot find the sent emails, you may want to check with your IT department to see if there are any policies or settings that might affect the visibility of sent emails from mail merges.