Merge to Email problem - please help

Question

I have used the MS Word merge to email function many times in the past. But today, it is not working, on both my laptop and desktop. I have Outlook selected as my default email program, and I am logged into Word, Excel, and Outlook with my 365 account. When I click to finish the merge, no emails are sent. In the Word document, I can see the app filling in the merge fields for each recipient, but after it is completed, no messages have been sent. I am on the recipient list, so I would receive the message myself if they were sent. Normally, when the merge is done, the sent messages also appear in my sent mail box in Outlook. But again, no sent messages appear.

Answer 1

Hi @TimJ,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

I understand how inconvenient it is, especially since you’ve successfully used Word merge to email many times before and, today, no messages are being sent.

To clarify this case, the key difference is the Outlook client:

• In the past, this workflow succeeded because you were using Classic Outlook, which supports the MAPI integration that Word relies on to hand off mail‑merge messages to Outlook.
• Now, you’re using New Outlook for Windows, where Mail Merge to email is only partially supported. The New Outlook’s architecture does not fully support the same MAPI handoff that Word uses, so the merge completes in Word but the emails are not delivered.

As further research and investigation from my side, currently Mail Merge feature is only Partially Available in New Outlook which means you may not apply this feature working completely using Word and Excel. In the past, you have used the MS Word merge to email function many times, and it works but today it doesn't so the issue could be that you switched to New Outlook. See more information, you may check this article as reference:

Feature comparison between new Outlook and classic Outlook

I understand your concerns here but please note Microsoft is constantly working on improving this product and adding more new features and the new Outlook for windows version is still under active development. Therefore, I suggest keeping an eye on the Microsoft Outlook blog or the Microsoft 365 Roadmap | Microsoft 365 for any updates on this feature.

In the meantime, you can consider switch back to classic Outlook for the merge as a workaround, you can follow the official guidance here: Toggle out of the new Outlook for Windows.

If this is necessary to you, I highly recommend submitting a suggestion directly from Outlook by navigating to: Outlook (new) · Community portal. This is the most effective way to ensure your voice reaches the product team and can be considered for future improvements.

Once you've submitted your feedback, feel free to share the link here in the comments. I’ll be happy to upvote it to help bring more visibility.  

Additionally, since many other users have expressed similar concerns but may not know where to submit feedback, if my response has helped you better understand the situation and guided you toward a possible next step, please mark it as the “Accepted Answer.” Your action will help pin this post to the top, making it easier for others in the community who are experiencing the same issue to find your feedback and support it.  

Thank you again for your time and for raising this important usability concern. 

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