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Outlook 2013 Absolute Beginner's Guide Diane Poremsky [Outlook MVP]

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Tip 392: Mail Merge Attachments

According to a popular Office "expert" it is possible to include an attachment in a mail merge but recipients might have problems opening them, due to security issues. Unfortunately, the expert is wrong. Yes, the recipient will be unable to open the attachment, but not because they fear viruses. Mail merge doesn't support attachments – if you add one, it's sent as an picture of the attachment's icon in the message body.

Other points to remember during a mail merge:

  1. Use HTML formatted messages when sending email merges. This will avoid the annoying email security dialog that requires you to press "Yes" for each message.
    Some versions of Outlook don't handle URLs correctly in an merge. They'll be blue like URLs but won't be clickable. If this happens to your merges, make sure you have the latest service pack for your version and switch to plain text if it's still a problem.
  2. There are two possible solutions if you need to send an attachment- use a mail merge utility that is designed to send attachments or use VBA.

More Information

Mail merge utilities:
Sending and Retrieval Tools (Slipstick.com)

How to mail merge attachments with VBA Addin:
MergeTools – 20150309.dotm Add-in (Instructions to use the addin)

Original Mail Merge to E-mail with Attachments macro (includes VBA code samples).

Published February 10, 2007. Last updated on June 7, 2021.

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Related posts:

Tip 242: Mail Merge using Categories Receiving Read Only Attachments A reader asks: "Every attachment I receive is marked "read-only" by default in OutlQuestions about Read Only Attachments This tip applies to Outlook 2007 and older. The procedure is slightly different in Outlook 2010. See Editing Attachments in OutlooTip 43: Save Changes to Attachments Using an antivirus scanner to scan your email is not necessary if the scanner is also configured for autoprotect since Outlook savTip 57: Antivirus Scanners and Email
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