If your mail merge campaign fails to send or displays errors, this guide will help you identify and resolve the most common issues. Follow the troubleshooting steps below based on the error you're experiencing.
Attachments Cause Send Failures
Problem: Your mail merge fails when certain file types are attached, particularly email files (.eml format).
Solution: Embed attachments directly in your email body.
Merge Fields Show Errors or Don't Populate
Problem: Your mail merge displays field errors or merge fields appear blank in sent emails.
Solution: Fix header mismatches in your merge fields.
SharePoint Links Don't Work or Cause Errors
Problem: SharePoint links are too long or recipients get "access denied" errors when clicking them.
Solution: Generate a share link instead of copying directly from the browser address bar.
Links Contain Extra Security Information
Problem: Your links are extremely long and start with URLs like https://yourcompany.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/.
Solution: You've copied a link that passed through your organization's security filtering (such as Microsoft SafeLinks). These modified links contain tracking and verification information that can cause problems for recipients' security systems.
To get clean links:
- Instead of copying links from emails, go directly to the source website
- Copy the URL from the address bar (it should be much shorter)
- Paste the clean link into your campaign
Example:
❌ Don't use: https://company.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcnn.com%2Farticle%3Fid%3D123... (long, modified URL)
✅ Use: https://cnn.com/article?id=123 (clean, original URL)
Button Text Displays Formatting Errors
Problem: Your button displays unexpected characters, formatting issues, or won't save properly.
Solution: Hidden formatting from copied text causes these errors. Button fields are particularly sensitive to invisible formatting codes.
Always type button text directly into the content block. If you must copy text:
- Use Ctrl + Shift + V (Windows) or Command + Shift + V (Mac) to paste as plain text
- Alternatively, right-click and select "Paste as plain text"
- This strips all hidden formatting that could cause errors