Windows 10: Office 365 Word: Mail Merge - Is it Supported for editing if the Source file is Saved in a...

I have an existing thread https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...f6-65d324eb3dc8?page=3&rtAction=1573368186357 and was advised by MS Moderator to re-post my inquiry here. I would like to ask if there's any related information about this inquiry.


Thank you so much.

:)

 

Office 365 Word: Mail Merge - Is it Supported for editing if the Source file is Saved in a Network Shared Drive?

Hello Rena,

In reference to this issue. I did couple of test on my end for our mail merge modification saved in a Network Shared Drive. Below are the findings:

Scenario 1:

• OS Version: Windows 7
• Office Version: Office 2010
• Result: I was able to edit and save the file with no issue

Scenario 2:

• OS Version: Windows 7
• Office Version: Office 365
• Result: I was able to edit and save the file with no issue

Scenario 3:

• OS Version: Windows 10
• Office Version: Office 365
• Result: Same behavior and same error message when editing and saving the mail merge with an attached source file

Since the Mail Merge worked in Windows 7 with Office 365 application, I just want to ask if this is related to the latest Windows Update or a compatibility issue with Windows 10?

Thank you so much.

 

Office 365 Word: Mail Merge - Is it Supported for editing if the Source file is Saved in a Network Shared Drive?

Hi Jazlyn,

This issue is only recently an issue.

The SOURCE file has been able to be saved on a network drive for years.

Recently this has broken. The source file in our case is a Word document.

The problem is, we don't want to edit the source file directly because it is rather difficult to navigate.

We instead prefer make edits to the source file via the UI presented under the Mail merge feature set in Word via the "Edit Recipient List".

With this menu we can make edits to values easily prefer finalising the mail merge.

I'm not sure if its a Word 2019 issue or a recent Windows Server patch (Server hosting the network drive).

(UPDATE)

I have just tested this on a completely different client site who also uses mail merge.

They are using Windows Server 2016 and Windows 10 Pro with Office 365 (Latest build).

When they also try and edit a source file that resides on a network share it also fails.

Thankfully they are able to edit the source file directly, unlike my other client who wishes to use the word UI.

This second client believes they were able to edit mail merge source files over the network share previously.

Something recently has broken this functionality.

 

Office 365 Word: Mail Merge - Is it Supported for editing if the Source file is Saved in a Network Shared Drive?

Hi Aaron,

I would like to make a summary of this case so that you can see the updates more conveniently.

Issue Scenario:

==========

Whenever we save a Word document as mail merge resource recipient file in a network share folder, we can’t save changes to it while we edit it directly within from a mail merge document via mailings > Edit Recipient List > Edit









Affected Environment:

=========

All the latest channels including the insider channel: Monthly Channel (Microsoft)
Version 1910 (build 12130.20112)

Troubleshooting:

====================

1. The issue only happens when the mail merge source recipient file is a Word document file. Excel mail merge recipient resource file will not have the issue.

2. The issue only happens when the mail merge recipient source file is stored in a network shared location. Storing in local drive will not have the issue.

3. The cx says the behavior just changed recently. It did not happen previously.

4. The issue only happens to Windows 10 but not Windows 7.

Workaround:

====================

1. Edit and save the resource recipient file without opening the mail merge Word document file.

2. Use Excel workbook instead of the Word document to be the recipient resource file.

Reproduce steps:

====================

1. Make a folder to be network shared folder. To do that, we can simply right-click a local folder > give access to > specific people > share with someone joined to the domain.

2. Get the network shared folder link, and use File Explorer to access it, for example:

\\DepartmentName\Users\UserName\FolderName

3. Create a Word mail merge recipient recourse file in this network shared folder. To do that, we can create a new Word document file > insert a table > type some data inside the table as recipient list >
Save and close.

4. Create a Word mail merge file (it doesn’t matter where this file stored in, local or network shared folder, will both trigger the issue). To do that, create a new Word document file > Mailings > Start
Mail Merge > E-mail messages > go to Select Recipients > Use an existing list > select the resource file we created in step 3

5. Go to Mailings > Edit Recipient List > Select the path under “data source” > click “edit” button under it > change list information > close

6. Try to close the Word mail merge file to see the result.

Latest Update:

====================

We have consulted with the related resource.

The related team replied that this issue is more close to a Windows system problem. Because Word mail merge should support a resource file in a shared network location. And the issue only happens in Windows 10 but not Windows 7. So that we decide to
move this thread to Windows category and see whether the Windows support team can deliver better help about this.

Regards,

Rena

[Updated by , 07:34
Oct 29, 2019(UTC)]