Email merge using Outlook/Word 2003

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I am trying to send personalised EMAILS to a number of people that is in a
database.

I have tried several times to send it but for some reason the information is
not sent.

I have used the Mail merge facility that is in Microsoft Word 2003 as well
as the one in Outlook 2003 and what happens is that it seems that the
information has been sent, but in reality none of the recipients have
received any email.

Just to those who might be wondering, the outlook is working as normal
emails are sent as expected.

The Procedure I do is:
1. Press "New Mail Message"
2. In the mail area I go to "Open Data Source"
3. Select the file where the database is (Word - table)
4. Then I write the document and insert the "Insert Merge Fields"
5. When I complete the document I press "Merge to Email"
6. Then a popup message appears to ask me The message options: To: I select
where the emails are stored (email), Subject line: Payments, Mail Format:
HTML; and I also select "Send all records" and finally press "OK"

The popup window disappears, and no emails are sent. I have noticed the
email sent should go either to the Outbox or Sent Items folder, but nothing
of that happens.

Hope you find the above description useful, in order to help me with this
matter.

Look forward to hearing any suggestions!

PS: Just in case my operating system is Windows XP Home
 
There is only one email merge feature in Office, and it's in Word. Instead of starting in a mail message, start with a new Word document, which is where you'll create the message and insert the fields.

I presume your table with the data includes an email address column?
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
 
I am very familiar with the problem Garmen refers to. Starting in Word
and using the mail merge procedure, everything seems to work fine with
one glaring exception - the outgoing emails do not make it to Outlook
and are never sent. Anyone know another cure starting in Word?
 
Dear Sue Mosher,

Yes, the data source includes the email address information.

I note that everything works just fine apart from the fact that in HTML
format the emails are not sent.

Whether I start in a word document and open the file I want to merge, or do
it in outlook, the file is kind of transferred to Word 2003, so I believe
that such is not the problem.

Is there any way in outlook to know where messages are sent in the format of
HTML, as in Plain or Attachment they are sent to the outbox or Sent file.

Many thanks for the help, but I still not know why this feature doesn't work
as it should.

Yours kindly
Garmen
 
Is there any way in outlook to know where messages are sent in the format of
HTML, as in Plain or Attachment they are sent to the outbox or Sent file.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but I don't understand the question. You set the format as part of the merge, as in Step 6 of your procedure below.
Whether I start in a word document and open the file I want to merge, or do
it in outlook, the file is kind of transferred to Word 2003, so I believe
that such is not the problem.
Click to expand...

Regardless, I would never, ever try to start a mail merge inside a WordMail email message. I would always start either in the Word application itself or, if the data source is in Outlook, in the Outlook contacts folder.

I've seen a few reports of similar problems, but can't duplicate them here and have not seen any suggestions for solutions. If you have a retail copy of Outlook, you might want to file a support incident with Microsoft.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
 
You're my hero Nicholas! After days of trying to solve the same problem it
worked! I used the "detect & repair" feature under Word Help.

Thanks!!
 
I had exactly the same problem as Garmen explained. I took Nicholas's tip to
repair Word, but it didnt work. I reinstalled MS Office, and still it didn't
work. Any more ideas?
 
A number of people have reported this problem but I've only ever come across
one identified cause:
if you have the addin "bxAutoZip", disable it temporarily - see Outlook
Tools|Options|Other|Advanced Options|COM Addins.

Some other rather random stuff you can try:
a. run scanpst/scanost on any .pst/.ost file your copy of Outlook happens
to use. Typically you will find your .pst in C:\Documents and
Settings\<yourloginname>\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook, and scanpst.exe in C:\Program Files\Common
Files\System\MSMAPI\1033 in an English-language installation
b. Make sure you have all the necessary info. to recreate your Outlook
profile, then delete/recreate it (I doubt if reinstalling Office will do
that).
c. check "Enable logging (troubleshooting)" in
Tools|Options|Other|"Advanced options". One person found that was in itself
enough to make things work, although it doesn't get to the bottom of the
problem.

However, I would log an incident with Microsoft support (e.g. via e-mail on
their website). It's pure conjecture on my part, but I suspect that this
problem occurs because Word has to access a specific MAPI property in order
to send an email using HTML (and I am pretty sure it is using MAPI calls
rather than any of the other interfaces available), fails, and does not trap
or report the error. if so, someone is likely to have to talk to the Word
development team about this one, not just get you to do loads of
experiments.

If you do that and get a result, please can you post it back here?

Peter Jamieson
 
Peter Jamieson said:
A number of people have reported this problem but I've only ever come across
one identified cause:
if you have the addin "bxAutoZip", disable it temporarily - see Outlook
Tools|Options|Other|Advanced Options|COM Addins.

Some other rather random stuff you can try:
a. run scanpst/scanost on any .pst/.ost file your copy of Outlook happens
to use. Typically you will find your .pst in C:\Documents and
Settings\<yourloginname>\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook, and scanpst.exe in C:\Program Files\Common
Files\System\MSMAPI\1033 in an English-language installation
b. Make sure you have all the necessary info. to recreate your Outlook
profile, then delete/recreate it (I doubt if reinstalling Office will do
that).
c. check "Enable logging (troubleshooting)" in
Tools|Options|Other|"Advanced options". One person found that was in itself
enough to make things work, although it doesn't get to the bottom of the
problem.

However, I would log an incident with Microsoft support (e.g. via e-mail on
their website). It's pure conjecture on my part, but I suspect that this
problem occurs because Word has to access a specific MAPI property in order
to send an email using HTML (and I am pretty sure it is using MAPI calls
rather than any of the other interfaces available), fails, and does not trap
or report the error. if so, someone is likely to have to talk to the Word
development team about this one, not just get you to do loads of
experiments.

If you do that and get a result, please can you post it back here?

Peter Jamieson

"Richard" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I had exactly the same problem as Garmen explained. I took Nicholas's tip
>to
> repair Word, but it didnt work. I reinstalled MS Office, and still it
> didn't
> work. Any more ideas?
>
> "Kathie" wrote:
>
>> You're my hero Nicholas! After days of trying to solve the same problem
>> it
>> worked! I used the "detect & repair" feature under Word Help.
>>
>> Thanks!!
>>
>> "(e-mail address removed)" wrote:
>>
>> >
>> > Repair the office installation.
>> >
>> > It worked for me.
>> >
>> >
Click to expand...
Hi there, we were having the same problems with html format mail merges not being sent in Outlook 2003. It did used to work then all of a sudden it stopped working and only plain text messages were getting sent. Our IT team looked into it and couldn't resolve it and then I came across this forum. Eureka. Detecting and repairing in Word saved the day.!
 
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