Mail Merge with Individual Attachments

This article shows how to quickly bulk-mail from Outlook to a list of recipients with different attachments.

Mail merge with individual attachments for different recipients is a great way to perform business mailings. You can send several automatically individualized messages using only one email template and a database file. Don't forget the folder with the files to attach, of course.

Why use mail merge with individual attachments

When you need to send multiple emails containing similar text to your customers or partners, the mail merge tool is essential.

If you know how to send bulk email using mail merge in Outlook, you will easily solve these troubling issues:

1. First, business mail etiquette and commercial goals imply a personal appeal to each recipient. For the same purpose, it's also preferable that the email itself has a unique address.
2. Besides the address field, sometimes the email body contains other small but important distinctions, like greetings, special costs, and personalized offers.

Not all the tools that cope with these basic tasks when mass mailing offer you a further range of options. Such as personalizing the email subject or sending various documents to certain addresses.

Meanwhile, emails containing attached documents make up a significant part of business mail. Often, it is necessary to send additional documents in commercial mailings: price lists, booklets, images. Here, you need to include attachment files in the mail merging process.

The ability to add required files to mail merged messages in Outlook is important. Each recipient gets a personalized offer and feels your attention. But what if every attachment varies for each email? Then, it's not enough to simply attach documents during the mail merging; they also need to be personalized.

How to mail merge with individual attachments in Outlook

The advanced version of the Mail Merge with Attachments utility has a wide range of settings to customize your mailings for every single recipient. Let's see how to send even more personal emails attaching diverse files to the messages in our mailing.

First, we put the names of the files to attach into the specific columns in our data source table. Let's name the columns "Attachment 1" and "Attachment 2".

Please, note that the names of the files to merge must include the extension.

Save the data source file and close it to perform the mail merge.

Now launch the utility from the Outlook Ribbon or a standalone app. After the General tab settings are made according to the utility configuration instructions, you can proceed with the attachment mail merging, configuring it in the related Attachments tab.

You have three ways to attach the files to your mail.

1. To attach the same files to all the emails, attach the files to the letter template.
2. Or use the Attach files from folder option.
3. If you need to send the custom documents to every address, fill in the Attach files from table field.

In the latter case, enter the path to the folder where you saved the files for mail merge. Note that the path must end with "\". After that, choose the name of the column containing the files you need. If you have two or more files to send, list them separated by semicolons.

You can include the full path to the attached files right in the cells of your data-source table. You will need this option if fewer files need to be attached to some of the messages. For addresses to which there are no attachments in corresponding columns, leave the cells blank.

To do the merge, list the column names in the Attach files from table field when configuring the utility.

Mail Merge: Security and Unlimited Use

Keep in mind, the Mail Merge with Attachments tool works right on your own computer, so there's no need for any outside online services. This means your private information, including the content of your emails and any attachments, stays safe and secure on your computer.

Plus, there's no limit to the number or size of messages you can send with this feature. This lets you do large mail merges without worrying about hitting a limit or having to pay extra. Whether you're sending a few personalized emails or a big marketing campaign, this tool can handle it all, and it's all part of your existing software package.

This way of doing things not only saves you money, but also gives you peace of mind. You can be sure that your data is safe, your mail merges are working well, and you're not going over your budget. So, make the most of this feature and improve your business communication without giving up security or paying more.

We have covered the specifics of sending various files assigned to the particular recipients in the mailing list. Learn about other useful mail merge options from the articles How to perform a mail merge in Outlook and How to mail merge from Excel.

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About Author

David Godfrin is a software developer and blogger for Outlook and Exchange. He has a strong background in IT and works in the field of software development and tech support since 2011.