Mail Merge Email - Text Formatting Errors

Question

HELP! Hello. I am trying to send an email via Mail Merge. The emails go through fine when I send a test email to my Microsoft Account; however, when I send it to my Gmail Account, it changes the text in the email. The only thing I am mail merging is the Dear ________, so I don't think it has anything to do with the Excel sheet.

I am trying to send a mail merge to donors and I want it to look professional not all jumbled as it does when I try to send it to a gmail account.

Answer 1

Dear @Heather Anderson, 

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

As a moderator, I don't have the tools to investigate your specific account directly. Because this is a user-to-user support forum so I have the same experience as you and other users in this forum. Moderators, contributors including external Microsoft employees cannot directly intervene in Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. However, I will try my best to guide you as clearly as possible.    

• Could you please help me attach some images to show how the two look different? I'd like to see a screenshot of when you are composing the email versus a screenshot of the email received in Gmail, so I can see how the formatting changes. 
• As you mentioned, the formatting issue is only related to the mail content; it shouldn't be related to the Excel sheet since that part is just for the recipients. 
• In the Mail Format settings, should I choose HTML, Attachment, or Plain Text? 
• Also, can you help me go to the View tab in Word > select Web Layout > and check if the format changes compared to the Print Layout? 

With your help, I will try to pinpoint the exact issue you are facing.    

I look forward to your support and response!    

Answer 2

Gmail renders messages differently from Outlook, especially for fonts, spacing, and line breaks. To keep the email looking professional and avoid “jumbled” text, use these steps and constraints when doing the mail merge from Word:

1. Use HTML format for the merge
   • In Word on Windows, after setting up the merge, go to Mailings > Finish & Merge > Send E-mail Messages.
   • In the Send E-mail Messages dialog, set Mail format to HTML (not Plain text).
   • This ensures Word sends proper HTML that Gmail can interpret more consistently.
2. Keep formatting simple and consistent
   • Use common fonts (e.g., Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman) and basic formatting (bold, italics, simple lists).
   • Avoid complex layouts, text boxes, or multi-column sections; Gmail may rearrange or strip some formatting.
   • Avoid pasting formatted content from other sources (like web pages); instead, paste as plain text and reapply formatting in Word.
3. Format the merge fields directly in Word
   • The only merge field is the greeting line (for example, «GreetingLine» or «First_Name»).
   • Select the merge field (including the chevrons « ») and apply the same font, size, and style as the surrounding text.
   • Do not rely on formatting in Excel; Word ignores most source formatting during merge and uses the formatting applied to the merge field in the main document.
4. Preview the merged emails before sending
   • In Word, go to Mailings > Preview Results.
   • Use Next / Previous to scroll through several records and confirm that spacing, fonts, and line breaks around the greeting line look correct.
   • If anything looks off, adjust the spacing and formatting in the main document and preview again.
5. Test with Gmail specifically
   • Send a small test batch to one or two Gmail addresses.
   • If Gmail still changes spacing, simplify further: remove extra blank lines, avoid manual line breaks inside paragraphs, and use standard paragraph spacing.

These steps keep the greeting line merge and the rest of the email in a format that Gmail handles more reliably, so donors see a clean, professional message.

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References:

• Use mail merge in Word to send bulk email messages
• Mail merge in Microsoft Word does not work on a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2
• How to use the Mail Merge feature in Word to create and to print form letters that use the data from an Excel worksheet
• Excel data doesn't retain its formatting in mail merge operations in Word
• Common mail merge issues
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