"error reading from the file" Message

Question

I'm using a Mac with Mojave 10.14.6 and Word for Mac 16.16.12.  I'm trying to do a mail merge, but every time I try to open the Excel spreadsheet I get a message that there's an error reading from the file.  ANY suggestions are appreciated!!  This is very frustrating, and I need to complete this project asap.

Thanks

Answer 1

Hi SJT2009,

Have you solved the problem?

If your need further assistance or want to share your experience, please feel free to post back.

Have a nice day!

Regards,

Oliver

Answer 2

Hello SJT2009,

After seeing your post I did a little test on Word for Mac 16.16.12 and unfortunately I could not reproduce the issue you met.

Please refer to this article to modify your spreadsheet format:

Prepare your Excel data source for a mail merge in Word for Mac

Also, it's suggested to use corresponding mail merge types to start, you can follow this article: Use mail merge...

To narrow down the issue, can you please provide the following information for moving further:

1. Does this error message appear when you open a specific Excel spreadsheet or all ??
2. A screenshot of the issue could help us understand your environment much.

If it still can't solve the problem, you could share the file with me via PM(click here)for further assistance.

What's more, you can click Help->check for updates to keep Office apps updated.

Hope it could help.

Best Regards,

Oliver

Answer 3

Hi,

My name is Naval and I am an Independent Advisor. I would like to help you.

Please try the following suggestion first:

1. Save your worksheet as a .csv, and use that as your mail merge data source. (That is more likely to work if your data is not multiline and does not contain "delimiter" characters such as commas, double quotation marks).
2. Try creating a new Word document, copy the sheet and paste it into that document, save it and use that as the data source. That would have a better chance of dealing with those comma/"/multiline problems.

Hope it helps.

Thanks