Is there a limit on the number of merge fields I can use?

[Lee]

I’m trying to set up a mail merge document with Word & excel 2007. Is there a
limit on the number of merge fields I can use? My spreadsheet has 200+
columns that are each a merge field. When I try to merge documents, many of
the fields at the end of the spreadsheet aren’t viewable. Any suggestions
workaround this would be great.

 

[Peter Jamieson]

At the moment there is an absolute maximum of 255 or 256 columns, despite
the fact that Excel 2007 can have many more columns.

Then there seems to be a practical maximum which varies depending on what
data you actually have - for example, if you have large chunks of text in
lots of the columns, you may find that the Edit Recipients dialog box does
not let you scroll sideways properly. However, I /think/ you would typically
still be able to insert all the fields and preview/perform the merge - the
problem is often "just" to do with Edit Recipients.

Also, you do not have to enter merge fields from the drop-down lists etc.,
which can be tedious if you have a lot of fields. It's probably easier to
use ctrl-F9 to inser the special field braces {} then type "MERGEFIELD
fieldname" inside, to give you e.g.

{ MERGEFIELD fieldname }

Or you could create this text (also using ctrl-F9 for the {}

{ MERGEFIELD }

and save it as a quick part for reasonably easy re-use.

 

[Jan Kare]

Hi!
In my experience, there has always been a 255 field limit in Excel. Thought
this was solved in version 2007 (still searching an authorized answer to
this).
I've always been forced to use a workaround: e.g from SPSS in my case (not
tried from Excel): Export all data from database to tab-delimitered textfile
with field headers. Number of fields then seems unlimited.

Best of luck!

Jan Kåre Jøsok
Norway