Word Mail Merge with Excel document in a Sharepoint document library with space in URL

Question

I have a Word document that I am trying to set up a Mail Merge in. The mail merge is using an excel file to populate the fields. This process works fine when the files are on my desktop. Now that it worked I need to move the files to a shared documents library on our Sharepoint so that others can access it. After I moved the files to Sharepoint I cannot seem to point the Word document to the Excel file it seems because the URL to access it has spaces in it. Here is some info that may help.

Word doc: MailMerge.docx

Excel mail merge source: MailMerge.xlsx

SP shared folder location: https://InternalURL/SP IT Shared Docs/Forms and Templates/MailMerge.xlsx (and .docx)

When I click to select my existing list in Word for the mail merge I am able to get to that folder by pasting the url above. But when I select it I get an error:

Sorry, we couldn't find your file, Was it moved, renamed, or deleted?

(https://InternalURL/SP)

Clearly when it hits the first space it fails. I tried using the same URL above but with replacing the spaces with %20 but that doesn't seem to work either. I cannot change the name of the folders. I also do not want to map a drive to it either, I just need to get the Word document pointed to the Excel document.

Answer 1

Hi Michael,

It is not feasible to perform a mail merge with a datasource that is located on an http location, including a SharePoint location. When you try to do this, the error message will appear as you mentioned.

As a workaround, you can sync SharePoint document library to local folder first and use that file path of your local synced folder to perform mail merge. Following this way,  you can not only do a mail merge with a data source originally located in SharePoint 2013 (or SharePoint Online), but also keep other persons accessible to the latest version of the source file.

To sync SharePoint library, you can either:

1. If you are using SharePoint 2013, please use Legacy OneDrive for Business sync client to sync SharePoint library. To install and use the Legacy sync client, please refer to : How to install the OneDrive for Business sync client for SharePoint 2013 and SharePoint Online.
2. If you are using SharePoint Online, please use the new OneDrive sync Client. To install and use new OneDrive sync client, please see Get started with the new OneDrive sync client in Windows.

Besides, we encourage you to post your requirement in our Word for Mac UserVoice, which is the best way to perfect our products and service.

Thanks for your understanding.

Regards,

Joanne

Answer 2

Bump. I still haven't found a fix for this issue. I'm just shocked that Microsoft does not allow Word (2016 no less) to use a Sharepoint (2013) list as a source for a mail merge. I could easily have avoided this issue if I could connect Word directly to a SP list and cut out the Excel middle man.