How To Integrate Google Sheets With Mail Merge in Gmail

If your Workspace version helps it, you could mail merge from Gmail utilizing a Google Sheet as your knowledge supply. This means you may create an e mail that takes {custom} fields from a spreadsheet and insert them into particular person emails to personalize your message. Mail merge works nicely for custom-made suggestions, reminders or renewal messages.

Create a mail merge

To create a mail merge, you want a Google account with a supported version of Workspace: Individual, Business Standard or Plus, Enterprise Standard or Plus, Education Plus and Nonprofits.

You ought to verify along with your Google Workspace administrator to find out how mail merge has been configured on your account. An administrator could enable or forestall entry to mail merge by way of a setting within the Admin Console: Apps | Google Workspace | Gmail | User Settings | Mail Merge. In some circumstances, this setting should still present as Multi-send. The administrator could regulate this setting both for all the group or for particular organizational models.

Additionally, by default, some Workspace editions prohibit mail merge to inner recipients solely; a Workspace administrator could select to permit sending a mail merge to exterior e mail addresses. In all circumstances, the amount of Gmail messages you ship should stay throughout the sending limits of your version.

Once you realize you have got entry to mail merge and know to whom you could ship (i.e., inner solely or exterior addresses), open Chrome on a desktop-class laptop, sign up to your Workspace account and observe the sequence beneath.

Configure your Google Sheet

First, you’ll must have a Google Sheet that accommodates your recipient e mail addresses, together with some other {custom} knowledge you want to embody in your merge. One technique to receive your supply sheet could possibly be to export a set of data from a database equivalent to Salesforce after which import your file (e.g., .csv or .xlsx format) into Google Sheets.

As with most merge knowledge sources, Row 1 of your sheet ought to comprise the sphere title headers equivalent to First Name, Last Name, Dollar Amount, Date and Date Format Example (Figure A). Make certain your area names use customary characters and numbers quite than particular symbols.

Figure A

Review your supply knowledge to make sure that each area you propose to merge has correct info; particularly, verify that each one names are right. Sending an e mail the place you merge the improper title could immediate individuals to both delete your e mail or report it as spam.

If your Google Sheet has a number of tabs of sheets displayed alongside the underside, be certain to maneuver the sheet with the supply knowledge to the primary tab. One technique to make this transfer is to click on on a tabbed sheet title after which drag to reposition it. When merging, the system attracts area names and knowledge solely from the sheet on the primary tab.

Initiate the merge in Gmail

Open Gmail and choose Compose to create a brand new e mail. Then, each time the cursor is in any of the deal with fields (e.g., To, Cc or Bcc), you could choose the mail merge icon, which is a picture of two individuals with a + image (Figure B). Once chosen, verify the field to allow Mail Merge mode. When lively, the accent colours change and the message “You’re Using Mail Merge” shows.

Figure B

Next, select the Add From A Spreadsheet possibility from the mail merge menu; this can carry up a Google Drive interface that means that you can navigate to the Google Sheet you want to use as your mail merge recipient listing knowledge supply. Select the sheet you ready earlier, after which select the Insert button (Figure C).

Figure C

The system will ask you to specify the proper knowledge to make use of for every recipient’s e mail deal with and first and final title fields (the final title area is non-obligatory) (Figure D). Select the corresponding columns out of your Google Sheet and choose Finish. A small icon of your spreadsheet will show because the recipient within the To: area in your mail merge e mail.

Figure D

Fill within the topic line of your e mail as you’d usually with any e mail you ship.

Personalize communication with {custom} fields

Enter the physique textual content of your e mail. You could select a structure, add hyperlinks, modify formatting and insert emoji, as in any e mail. If you propose to offer a file, equivalent to a PDF with a mail merge, the very best observe could be to incorporate a hyperlink to the file on Google Drive quite than inserting the merchandise as an attachment.

Type @ to show accessible mail merge tags out of your Google Sheet (Figure E) after which choose any merchandise from the listing to insert it into the e-mail. The system consolidates names right into a single lowercase string, which turns a column titled Dollar Amount right into a mail merge tag of @dollaramount, for instance.

Figure E

The inserted knowledge retains the formatting in your Google Sheet, as proven by the @date and @dateformatexample fields within the pattern sheet in Figure A. In the primary case, the / separator divides the month, day and 12 months, whereas within the latter, the spreadsheet knowledge was formatted to show with a full month in textual content, adopted by a numerical date, a comma after which the 12 months. So be certain to switch the format of the content material in your Google Sheet to replicate the presentation you need in your mail merge.

Check earlier than you ship

When you have got fastidiously reviewed your content material for errors, choose the Continue button. A immediate with three choices shows: Cancel, Send Preview and Send All (Figure F).

Figure F

Each of those choices does just about what you’d anticipate.

If you need to return to enhancing your e mail, choose Cancel. Send All triggers the merge and completes the method. In most circumstances, you need to first choose Send Preview, which sends a pattern merged e mail to your Gmail inbox (Figure G). Check this preview for errors; as soon as you’re sure all info is as you would like, repeat the method and choose Send All to merge and ship your mass e mail.

Figure G

Message or point out me on Mastodon (@awolber) to let me understand how you utilize Google Sheets and Gmail mail merge capabilities in your group.