How do I send personalized mass emails in Gmail?

Updated October 29, 2026

Set up the list

One row per person, one column per detail. Keep headers short with no symbols. Mergeline matches tags to columns without caring about case or spaces, so “First Name” and “firstname” both work.

Write once, personalize many times

A good personal email uses two or three details, not ten. For example: “Hi {{FirstName|there}}, I saw {{Company|your team}} is looking at {{Topic}}.”

Mergeline also has conditional text. {{#if Company}}…{{else}}…{{/if}} shows one sentence for people with a company and another for the rest. You can even match a value, like {{#if Plan = Pro}}.

Check before you send

1. Open the preview and step through several people, including one with empty cells.
2. Send a test to yourself.
3. Fix any tag the checker flags as missing from your columns.
4. Send. Each person gets their own email from your Gmail.

Google’s built-in mail merge also personalizes, with tags like @firstname, but only in the body. It cannot fill in the subject line.

How much personal detail is enough

A name alone is not personal anymore; everyone gets “Hi Jane”. One line that only fits that person does the real work: the event you met at, the post they wrote, the product they use. Add a column for that line and fill it by hand for your most important contacts. For the rest, conditional text can pick a sentence by group, such as a different line for clients and for prospects.

Read the full guide: Merge tags and fallbacks

Related answers

• How do I add merge tags like first name to a Gmail email?
• Can I personalize the subject line in a mail merge?
• How do I mail merge from a CSV file into Gmail?
• How do I send one email to multiple recipients individually in Gmail?

Sources

• Google: Send personalized emails with mail merge in Gmail
• r/GMail: adding first name to Gmail templates

Facts checked October 29, 2026. Google and other vendors change their limits and prices, so check the source before you rely on a number.