Email merge emails sent but never get to recipient

[Dale]

I have followed the mail merge wizard in Word in order to send a
specific email to about 50-200 people. I have set-up a test merge of
email addresses and name only and send to be sure that it's working
correctly. At home I use either Word and Outlook 2003 on XP or Word
and Outlook 2007 on Vista. The merge with a test 4 recipients merges
correctly and appears to be sent with no error messages on both my
home machines. The 4 test emails are in the sent folder however none
of the test emails arrive at the recipient's email. I've followed the
same procedure at work with 4 test emails using Word and Outlook 2003
on Vista and it works perfectly. The only apparent difference is the
ISP difference between home and work and that there is a business
account at work and not at home. I called my home ISP and they checked
my account and they are not stopping any of my 4 test emails.
Something is wrong but I don't know what. I've checked my settings in
Outlook between home and work and they are the same except for the ISP
differencees. There are no third party SMTP. Can someone help please?
Dale

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

You need to include the fact that you are using an Excel spreadsheet as your
data source (not Outlook) and document exactly how you are populating the
recipient field in Word's Mail merge Wizard. Outlook's failure to send the
messages suggests you are not populating the recipient field with a valid,
resolved address, and the Word experts need to review and validate the
method you are using because it seems wrong to us Outlook folk.

 

[Dale]

You need to include the fact that you are using an Excel spreadsheet as your
data source (not Outlook) and document exactly how you are populating the
recipient field in Word's Mail merge Wizard. Outlook's failure to send the
messages suggests you are not populating the recipient field with a valid,
resolved address, and the Word experts need to review and validate the
method you are using because it seems wrong to us Outlook folk.
--
Russ Valentine





- Show quoted text -

I am hoping the word experts can help. The sent folder from my merge
has 4 sent emails in it. I open each one and the email addresses are
accurate as well as the email text itself. These are my personal
emails as well as two friends. I only use the email address from the
recipient from the excel spreadsheet in my merge. I do not use any
fields in the text message in word.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

I'm sure the Word experts could help, but once again you have failed to
provide the relevant information that would permit anyone to help. Post the
information I requested.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

You need to include the fact that you are using an Excel spreadsheet as
your
data source (not Outlook) and document exactly how you are populating the
recipient field in Word's Mail merge Wizard. Outlook's failure to send the
messages suggests you are not populating the recipient field with a valid,
resolved address, and the Word experts need to review and validate the
method you are using because it seems wrong to us Outlook folk.
--
Russ Valentine





- Show quoted text -

I am hoping the word experts can help. The sent folder from my merge
has 4 sent emails in it. I open each one and the email addresses are
accurate as well as the email text itself. These are my personal
emails as well as two friends. I only use the email address from the
recipient from the excel spreadsheet in my merge. I do not use any
fields in the text message in word.

 

[Peter Jamieson]

[Russ - Just out of interest, what "seems wrong" to you from an Outlook
perspective? Do you simply mean that you would typically initiate a merge
from Outlook using Tools|MailMerge and suitable Contacts data?]

Things I would check or try using a small test merge...
a. When you merge from Word, try changing the message format from HTML to
Plain text. You will then see various security-related messages that (for
some reason) you do not get with HTML. get through them. See if the messages
are sent. (I doubt it, but it's the first thing I'd try).
b. Do you have more than one Mail ("Outlook") Profile on your system? You
may be able to find this in Control Panel|Mail, even on Vista.
c. Do you have, or have you had, more than one e-mail account on your
system?
d. in Outlook 2007, uncheck "Send Immediately when connected" in
Tools|Options|Mail Setup. Then
- send a message manually from Outlook in the usual way
- do a small test merge to 1 or 2 recipients.

Verify that the messages arrive in the Outlook Outbox. Open the message you
sent manually - you should see an information bar above the Send Button
saying something like

This message has not been sent
This message will be sent via <something or other>

Open one of the messages created by mailmerge. Verify that those two lines
are the same as in the message you sent manually. If they are different,
perhaps you could post the two different lines here.
e. Consider running the SCANPST tool, e.g.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287497/en-us

(I cannot find a copy of this tool on my Vista system but I am more
confident it will be there on your XP system).

--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

You need to include the fact that you are using an Excel spreadsheet as
your data source (not Outlook) and document exactly how you are populating
the recipient field in Word's Mail merge Wizard. Outlook's failure to send
the messages suggests you are not populating the recipient field with a
valid, resolved address, and the Word experts need to review and validate
the method you are using because it seems wrong to us Outlook folk.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I have followed the mail merge wizard in Word in order to send a
specific email to about 50-200 people. I have set-up a test merge of
email addresses and name only and send to be sure that it's working
correctly. At home I use either Word and Outlook 2003 on XP or Word
and Outlook 2007 on Vista. The merge with a test 4 recipients merges
correctly and appears to be sent with no error messages on both my
home machines. The 4 test emails are in the sent folder however none
of the test emails arrive at the recipient's email. I've followed the
same procedure at work with 4 test emails using Word and Outlook 2003
on Vista and it works perfectly. The only apparent difference is the
ISP difference between home and work and that there is a business
account at work and not at home. I called my home ISP and they checked
my account and they are not stopping any of my 4 test emails.
Something is wrong but I don't know what. I've checked my settings in
Outlook between home and work and they are the same except for the ISP
differencees. There are no third party SMTP. Can someone help please?
Dale

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Probably also worth checking that starting from a different data source does
/not/ work, e.g. perhaps the most revealing method would be to create a
temporary contacts folder in Outlook and add some test contacts, or simply
add test contacts to your existing Outlook Contacts folder, select them,
then use Outlook Tools|MailMerge to initiate the merge.

My guess is that it will make no difference (because Word does the same
thing in the end) unless the presence of the contact data itself changes
things, but if it works, it tells us something and at least you have /a/ way
to proceed.
--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

[Russ - Just out of interest, what "seems wrong" to you from an Outlook
perspective? Do you simply mean that you would typically initiate a merge
from Outlook using Tools|MailMerge and suitable Contacts data?]

Things I would check or try using a small test merge...
a. When you merge from Word, try changing the message format from HTML to
Plain text. You will then see various security-related messages that (for
some reason) you do not get with HTML. get through them. See if the
messages are sent. (I doubt it, but it's the first thing I'd try).
b. Do you have more than one Mail ("Outlook") Profile on your system? You
may be able to find this in Control Panel|Mail, even on Vista.
c. Do you have, or have you had, more than one e-mail account on your
system?
d. in Outlook 2007, uncheck "Send Immediately when connected" in
Tools|Options|Mail Setup. Then
- send a message manually from Outlook in the usual way
- do a small test merge to 1 or 2 recipients.

Verify that the messages arrive in the Outlook Outbox. Open the message
you sent manually - you should see an information bar above the Send
Button saying something like

This message has not been sent
This message will be sent via <something or other>

Open one of the messages created by mailmerge. Verify that those two lines
are the same as in the message you sent manually. If they are different,
perhaps you could post the two different lines here.
e. Consider running the SCANPST tool, e.g.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287497/en-us

(I cannot find a copy of this tool on my Vista system but I am more
confident it will be there on your XP system).

--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

You need to include the fact that you are using an Excel spreadsheet as
your data source (not Outlook) and document exactly how you are
populating the recipient field in Word's Mail merge Wizard. Outlook's
failure to send the messages suggests you are not populating the
recipient field with a valid, resolved address, and the Word experts need
to review and validate the method you are using because it seems wrong to
us Outlook folk.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I have followed the mail merge wizard in Word in order to send a
specific email to about 50-200 people. I have set-up a test merge of
email addresses and name only and send to be sure that it's working
correctly. At home I use either Word and Outlook 2003 on XP or Word
and Outlook 2007 on Vista. The merge with a test 4 recipients merges
correctly and appears to be sent with no error messages on both my
home machines. The 4 test emails are in the sent folder however none
of the test emails arrive at the recipient's email. I've followed the
same procedure at work with 4 test emails using Word and Outlook 2003
on Vista and it works perfectly. The only apparent difference is the
ISP difference between home and work and that there is a business
account at work and not at home. I called my home ISP and they checked
my account and they are not stopping any of my 4 test emails.
Something is wrong but I don't know what. I've checked my settings in
Outlook between home and work and they are the same except for the ISP
differencees. There are no third party SMTP. Can someone help please?
Dale

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Peter - The OP posted the steps used to create the merge in an Outlook group
in which he actually browsed to an Excel spreadsheet and selected recipients
from it rather than telling the merge Wizard which field to use for the
recipient. I'm trying to get him to post the details more accurately here,
but he seems unable to comply.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

[Russ - Just out of interest, what "seems wrong" to you from an Outlook
perspective? Do you simply mean that you would typically initiate a merge
from Outlook using Tools|MailMerge and suitable Contacts data?]

Things I would check or try using a small test merge...
a. When you merge from Word, try changing the message format from HTML to
Plain text. You will then see various security-related messages that (for
some reason) you do not get with HTML. get through them. See if the
messages are sent. (I doubt it, but it's the first thing I'd try).
b. Do you have more than one Mail ("Outlook") Profile on your system? You
may be able to find this in Control Panel|Mail, even on Vista.
c. Do you have, or have you had, more than one e-mail account on your
system?
d. in Outlook 2007, uncheck "Send Immediately when connected" in
Tools|Options|Mail Setup. Then
- send a message manually from Outlook in the usual way
- do a small test merge to 1 or 2 recipients.

Verify that the messages arrive in the Outlook Outbox. Open the message
you sent manually - you should see an information bar above the Send
Button saying something like

This message has not been sent
This message will be sent via <something or other>

Open one of the messages created by mailmerge. Verify that those two lines
are the same as in the message you sent manually. If they are different,
perhaps you could post the two different lines here.
e. Consider running the SCANPST tool, e.g.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287497/en-us

(I cannot find a copy of this tool on my Vista system but I am more
confident it will be there on your XP system).

--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

You need to include the fact that you are using an Excel spreadsheet as
your data source (not Outlook) and document exactly how you are
populating the recipient field in Word's Mail merge Wizard. Outlook's
failure to send the messages suggests you are not populating the
recipient field with a valid, resolved address, and the Word experts need
to review and validate the method you are using because it seems wrong to
us Outlook folk.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I have followed the mail merge wizard in Word in order to send a
specific email to about 50-200 people. I have set-up a test merge of
email addresses and name only and send to be sure that it's working
correctly. At home I use either Word and Outlook 2003 on XP or Word
and Outlook 2007 on Vista. The merge with a test 4 recipients merges
correctly and appears to be sent with no error messages on both my
home machines. The 4 test emails are in the sent folder however none
of the test emails arrive at the recipient's email. I've followed the
same procedure at work with 4 test emails using Word and Outlook 2003
on Vista and it works perfectly. The only apparent difference is the
ISP difference between home and work and that there is a business
account at work and not at home. I called my home ISP and they checked
my account and they are not stopping any of my 4 test emails.
Something is wrong but I don't know what. I've checked my settings in
Outlook between home and work and they are the same except for the ISP
differencees. There are no third party SMTP. Can someone help please?
Dale

 

[Peter Jamieson]

Ah, I see.

It sounds to me like he's doing a more normal mail now using Word's Wizard,
but of course it helps to be sure.

--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

Peter - The OP posted the steps used to create the merge in an Outlook
group in which he actually browsed to an Excel spreadsheet and selected
recipients from it rather than telling the merge Wizard which field to use
for the recipient. I'm trying to get him to post the details more
accurately here, but he seems unable to comply.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

[Russ - Just out of interest, what "seems wrong" to you from an Outlook
perspective? Do you simply mean that you would typically initiate a merge
from Outlook using Tools|MailMerge and suitable Contacts data?]

Things I would check or try using a small test merge...
a. When you merge from Word, try changing the message format from HTML to
Plain text. You will then see various security-related messages that (for
some reason) you do not get with HTML. get through them. See if the
messages are sent. (I doubt it, but it's the first thing I'd try).
b. Do you have more than one Mail ("Outlook") Profile on your system? You
may be able to find this in Control Panel|Mail, even on Vista.
c. Do you have, or have you had, more than one e-mail account on your
system?
d. in Outlook 2007, uncheck "Send Immediately when connected" in
Tools|Options|Mail Setup. Then
- send a message manually from Outlook in the usual way
- do a small test merge to 1 or 2 recipients.

Verify that the messages arrive in the Outlook Outbox. Open the message
you sent manually - you should see an information bar above the Send
Button saying something like

This message has not been sent
This message will be sent via <something or other>

Open one of the messages created by mailmerge. Verify that those two
lines are the same as in the message you sent manually. If they are
different, perhaps you could post the two different lines here.
e. Consider running the SCANPST tool, e.g.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287497/en-us

(I cannot find a copy of this tool on my Vista system but I am more
confident it will be there on your XP system).

--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

You need to include the fact that you are using an Excel spreadsheet as
your data source (not Outlook) and document exactly how you are
populating the recipient field in Word's Mail merge Wizard. Outlook's
failure to send the messages suggests you are not populating the
recipient field with a valid, resolved address, and the Word experts
need to review and validate the method you are using because it seems
wrong to us Outlook folk.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I have followed the mail merge wizard in Word in order to send a
specific email to about 50-200 people. I have set-up a test merge of
email addresses and name only and send to be sure that it's working
correctly. At home I use either Word and Outlook 2003 on XP or Word
and Outlook 2007 on Vista. The merge with a test 4 recipients merges
correctly and appears to be sent with no error messages on both my
home machines. The 4 test emails are in the sent folder however none
of the test emails arrive at the recipient's email. I've followed the
same procedure at work with 4 test emails using Word and Outlook 2003
on Vista and it works perfectly. The only apparent difference is the
ISP difference between home and work and that there is a business
account at work and not at home. I called my home ISP and they checked
my account and they are not stopping any of my 4 test emails.
Something is wrong but I don't know what. I've checked my settings in
Outlook between home and work and they are the same except for the ISP
differencees. There are no third party SMTP. Can someone help please?
Dale

 

[Dale]

[Russ - Just out of interest, what "seems wrong" to you from an Outlook
perspective? Do you simply mean that you would typically initiate a merge
from Outlook using Tools|MailMerge and suitable Contacts data?]

Things I would check or try using a small test merge...
 a. When you merge from Word, try changing the message format from HTMLto
Plain text. You will then see various security-related messages that (for
some reason) you do not get with HTML. get through them. See if the messages
are sent. (I doubt it, but it's the first thing I'd try).
 b. Do you have more than one Mail ("Outlook") Profile on your system? You
may be able to find this in Control Panel|Mail, even on Vista.
 c. Do you have, or have you had, more than one e-mail account on your
system?
 d. in Outlook 2007, uncheck "Send Immediately when connected" in
Tools|Options|Mail Setup. Then
  - send a message manually from Outlook in the usual way
  - do a small test merge to 1 or 2 recipients.

Verify that the messages arrive in the Outlook Outbox. Open the message you
sent manually - you should see an information bar above the Send Button
saying something like

This message has not been sent
This message will be sent via <something or other>

Open one of the messages created by mailmerge. Verify that those two lines
are the same as in the message you sent manually. If they are different,
perhaps you could post the two different lines here.
 e. Consider running the SCANPST tool, e.g.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287497/en-us

(I cannot find a copy of this tool on my Vista system but I am more
confident it will be there on your XP system).

--
Peter Jamiesonhttp://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

You need to include the fact that you are using an Excel spreadsheet as
your data source (not Outlook) and document exactly how you are populating
the recipient field in Word's Mail merge Wizard. Outlook's failure to send
the messages suggests you are not populating the recipient field with a
valid, resolved address, and the Word experts need to review and validate
the method you are using because it seems wrong to us Outlook folk.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I have followed the mail merge wizard in Word in order to send a
specific email to about 50-200 people. I have set-up a test merge of
email addresses and name only and send to be sure that it's working
correctly. At home I use either Word and Outlook 2003 on XP or Word
and Outlook 2007 on Vista. The merge with a test 4 recipients merges
correctly and appears to be sent with no error messages on both my
home machines. The 4 test emails are in the sent folder however none
of the test emails arrive at the recipient's email. I've followed the
same procedure at work with 4 test emails using Word and Outlook 2003
on Vista and it works perfectly. The only apparent difference is the
ISP difference between home and work and that there is a business
account at work and not at home. I called my home ISP and they checked
my account and they are not stopping any of my 4 test emails.
Something is wrong but I don't know what. I've checked my settings in
Outlook between home and work and they are the same except for the ISP
differencees. There are no third party SMTP. Can someone help please?
Dale- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions - the problem is solved! I
took your advice. I changed from HTML to Plain text and the email
merge went perfectly. That was the problem.

 

[Peter Jamieson]

As long as that's OK with you....

--
Peter Jamieson
http://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

[Russ - Just out of interest, what "seems wrong" to you from an Outlook
perspective? Do you simply mean that you would typically initiate a merge
from Outlook using Tools|MailMerge and suitable Contacts data?]

Things I would check or try using a small test merge...
a. When you merge from Word, try changing the message format from HTML to
Plain text. You will then see various security-related messages that (for
some reason) you do not get with HTML. get through them. See if the
messages
are sent. (I doubt it, but it's the first thing I'd try).
b. Do you have more than one Mail ("Outlook") Profile on your system? You
may be able to find this in Control Panel|Mail, even on Vista.
c. Do you have, or have you had, more than one e-mail account on your
system?
d. in Outlook 2007, uncheck "Send Immediately when connected" in
Tools|Options|Mail Setup. Then
- send a message manually from Outlook in the usual way
- do a small test merge to 1 or 2 recipients.

Verify that the messages arrive in the Outlook Outbox. Open the message
you
sent manually - you should see an information bar above the Send Button
saying something like

This message has not been sent
This message will be sent via <something or other>

Open one of the messages created by mailmerge. Verify that those two lines
are the same as in the message you sent manually. If they are different,
perhaps you could post the two different lines here.
e. Consider running the SCANPST tool, e.g.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287497/en-us

(I cannot find a copy of this tool on my Vista system but I am more
confident it will be there on your XP system).

--
Peter Jamiesonhttp://tips.pjmsn.me.uk

message

You need to include the fact that you are using an Excel spreadsheet as
your data source (not Outlook) and document exactly how you are
populating
the recipient field in Word's Mail merge Wizard. Outlook's failure to
send
the messages suggests you are not populating the recipient field with a
valid, resolved address, and the Word experts need to review and
validate
the method you are using because it seems wrong to us Outlook folk.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I have followed the mail merge wizard in Word in order to send a
specific email to about 50-200 people. I have set-up a test merge of
email addresses and name only and send to be sure that it's working
correctly. At home I use either Word and Outlook 2003 on XP or Word
and Outlook 2007 on Vista. The merge with a test 4 recipients merges
correctly and appears to be sent with no error messages on both my
home machines. The 4 test emails are in the sent folder however none
of the test emails arrive at the recipient's email. I've followed the
same procedure at work with 4 test emails using Word and Outlook 2003
on Vista and it works perfectly. The only apparent difference is the
ISP difference between home and work and that there is a business
account at work and not at home. I called my home ISP and they checked
my account and they are not stopping any of my 4 test emails.
Something is wrong but I don't know what. I've checked my settings in
Outlook between home and work and they are the same except for the ISP
differencees. There are no third party SMTP. Can someone help please?
Dale- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions - the problem is solved! I
took your advice. I changed from HTML to Plain text and the email
merge went perfectly. That was the problem.