>>>>>> INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERFORMING A THUNDERBIRD MAIL MERGE <<<<<
I. Create Personalized Email CSV File:
Thunderbird is a free email application that’s easy to set up and customize - and it’s loaded with great features! INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERFORMING A THUNDERBIRD MAIL MERGE. This article was written for Thunderbird but also applies to Mozilla Suite / SeaMonkey (though some menu sequences may differ). Mail merge is a general term for merging information from a database with a template message, which is sent to many recipients, so that each recipient gets a personalized message. Mail merge does two things. Persistent sticky notes for Thunderbird associated to mails. In TB 78, you can define the note position in the settings. If you have a large screen, you can even display the notes outside of TB's main window, so it won't hide anything.
1. Launch Microsoft Excel.
2. Enter the following information:
Cell A1 - firstname
Cell B1 - lastname
Cell C1 - email
3. Enter the first name, last name and email address for the people
that you intend to send your message to beginning in row 2.
4. After entering the information, save the file as a CSV file.
Mail Merge Thunderbird Not Working
File > Save > As >
Save As: email-list
File Format: Comma Separated Values (.csv)
Click on the Save button.
Mail Merge Thunderbird Plugin
A sample CSV file is attached for your review.
5. Close Microsoft Excel.
II. Install Thunderbird Mail Merge Extension:
1. Launch Thunderbird.
2. Click on Tools Add-ons
3. Click on Get Add-ons.
4. Search for 'Mail Merge'.
5. Click on the 'Install' button to install it.
6. Restart Thunderbird.
III. Prepare an Email Merge Message to send to all intended recipients
1. Open Thunderbird and start a new message.
2. Write your message. Surround any text that you want to include from
the csv file you previously with two curly braces: {{text}}. For example:
>>>>>> SAMPLE BELOW <<<<<
To: {{email}}
Subject: Same Subject
Dear {{firstname}},
I am writing to you today for .......
Cheers,
My Name
>>>>>> SAMPLE ABOVE <<<<<
3. Once you are happy with your message, click on File Mail Merge.
4. A dialog window will appear. Please set to the following:
MESSAGE Section:
Source: CSV
Deliver Mode: 'Save As Draft' will save the merged emails in your
drafts folder. 'Send Later' will save the merged emails in your Outbox.
'Send Now' will send the merged emails immediately (note: this will not
give you an opportunity to review the generated emails and is not
recommended). I recommend the 'Send Later' option.
CSV Section:
File: enter the path for the file you created in the 'Create
Personalized Email CSV File' section of these instructions.
Character Set: UTF-8
Field Delimiter: ,
Text Delimiter: '
BATCH Section:
Start: Enter the first row of the CSV file that contains data.
Stop: Enter the last row of the CSV file that contains data.
Pause: If you sent the 'Deliver Mode' to 'Send Now', I recommend
setting a value between 2 - 5, which represents that amount of time the
Thunderbird will wait between sending each email message.
5. The mail merge will run after you click on the 'OK' button.
6. If you selected 'Send Now' for Deliver Mode, the messages will
automatically be sent. If you selected 'Send Later' for 'Deliver Mode',
the merged emails will be stored in 'Outbox' under 'Local Folders'.
Check one or two of the emails to make sure the merge worked properly.
When you are satisfied the merge worked correctly, send the emails by
selecting File Send Unsent Messages.
Sending Emails to multiple recipients with Mail Merge
If you need to send emails to multiple recipients Mail Merge can be very useful. Here are the basic steps and the links to all the documentation:
- You need to use Thunderbird
- Install the Mail Merge Add-on
- Follow the Mail Merge documentation on how to format the CSV file with all the addresses and send the email
- For changing the identity of the email sender please check this article