To do a mail merge in Gmail, compose a new message on a computer, click Use mail merge next to the To line, add your recipients or link a Google Sheet, then type @ in the body to drop in merge tags like @firstname. It's built into Gmail, but only on eligible paid Google Workspace plans, so a free Gmail account won't show the button.
Google's own help page lists the plans that get it: Workspace Individual, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus. Mail merge replaces the older multi-send mode, and every recipient gets their own copy of the email with their own name in it, rather than one email with everyone in the To line.
How to set up a mail merge in Gmail, step by step
- Open Gmail on a computer and click Compose.
- Click Use mail merge next to the To line and turn it on.
- Type your recipients in, or click Add from a spreadsheet and map the Email, First name and Last name columns.
- Type @ in the body of the email and pick a merge tag, for example @firstname.
- Set a default value for anyone whose name is missing, such as Hi friend.
- Send, then check your Sent folder: merged emails carry a Sent with mail merge banner.
Merge tags and the spreadsheet rules
Gmail gives you four tags out of the box: @firstname, @lastname, @fullname and @email. If you link a Google Sheet, the tags follow your column headers instead. Two rules trip people up. The contact details have to sit in the first tab of the sheet, and that tab can only contain text. If a header has special characters in it, Gmail falls back to a positional tag, so your first column becomes @A.
If a contact is saved as something like Sam with an email address, Gmail can't tell which part is a first name and which is a last name, so it flags an error. You can fix the contact, remove them, or enter a default value. And if Gmail won't read your sheet at all, Google's fix is to copy the data into a new sheet using Edit, Paste special, Values only, which strips out hidden formatting, then connect the new sheet.
The limits Google puts on Gmail mail merge
This is the part to read before you hit send. These figures come from Google's mail merge help page, as of Oct 2026.
| Limit | Figure from Google |
|---|---|
| Standard Gmail daily send | 500 |
| Workspace, work and school daily send | 2,000 |
| Mail merge recipients per message | 1,500 |
| Mail merge recipients per day | 1,500, combined with your regular sends |
| Cc and Bcc | 1 each, copied on every email; none at all with a spreadsheet |
| Merge tags in the subject line | Not allowed |
The daily cap is shared. Once you've sent a combined 1,500 emails in a day, regular plus mail merge, you can't send any more merged emails until the quota resets, because the last 500 of your 2,000 are kept back for normal email. There's no limit on unique recipients per month, though.
The Bcc rule is the sneaky one. You can only have one person in Cc or Bcc, and that person gets a copy of every single email. Google's own example: send to 500 people with a support address in Bcc and you've used 1,000 of your daily limit. Attachments work the same way. Each recipient gets their own copy, so a 10 MB file sent to 500 people uses about 5 GB of storage. Google's tip is to put the file in Drive and send a link.
For the settings behind your inbox, see Gmail's smart features.
The unsubscribe link Gmail adds for you
Here's what most guides miss. Gmail automatically adds a unique unsubscribe link to the bottom of every mail merge email. You'll get an email each time someone unsubscribes or resubscribes, but Google says you can't pull a list of everyone who's unsubscribed. Someone who unsubscribes can also still get your normal, non merge emails, and mail merge emails from other accounts in your domain. So if a few people on your team send merges, keep your own record of who's opted out.
Before you send to a list, understand double opt-in.
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What mail merge won't do
Mail merge doesn't work with replies, forwards, scheduled send, confidential mode or plain text mode. You can't use merge tags in the subject line or in hyperlinked text, and you can't send a merge from another domain, even a secondary domain or alias you own.
Google's bulk email guidance is worth following too: only email people who've clearly opted in, include a way to unsubscribe, say who you are, don't use misleading subject lines or sender names, and tell people how often you'll be in touch. If you're emailing US contacts, my guide to the CAN-SPAM rules for business email covers what the law expects.
My verdict
Gmail mail merge is great for a small outreach list, a client update or an event invite when you're already paying for Workspace. It's quick, it's personal and it lands like a normal email. It isn't a newsletter tool, though. You can't see a list of who's unsubscribed, you're capped at 1,500 a day and there's no reporting, so once your list starts growing, move it to an email marketing platform. If you're still choosing a plan, here's my breakdown of what each Google Workspace plan costs, and if you're doing the same job in Word instead, see mail merge in Microsoft Word.
Frequently asked questions
Can I do a mail merge in free Gmail?
Not with Gmail's built in tool. Google lists mail merge on eligible Workspace plans only, including Workspace Individual, Business Standard and Business Plus.
How many emails can I send with Gmail mail merge?
Google says up to 1,500 recipients per message and 1,500 a day, counted together with your regular emails. Workspace accounts can send 2,000 emails a day in total.
Can I personalise the subject line in a Gmail mail merge?
No. Google says merge tags can't be used in subject lines or in hyperlinked text.
Does Gmail mail merge add an unsubscribe link?
Yes. A unique unsubscribe link is added automatically to every mail merge email, and you get an email each time someone unsubscribes.
Can I schedule a mail merge in Gmail?
No. Google says mail merge doesn't work with scheduled send, replies, forwards, confidential mode or plain text mode.
