Fix Finish & Merge Email Option Disabled in Word for Mac

Launch the built-in Mac Mail application from your Applications folder or Dock. Click on 'Mail' in the top Apple menu bar and select 'Settings' (or 'Preferences' on older macOS versions).

Navigate to the 'General' tab within the Settings window. Look for the 'Default email reader' dropdown menu and select 'Microsoft Outlook' from the list of applications.

Open the Microsoft Outlook application. Confirm that at least one active email account is fully configured and successfully syncing. Once verified, restart Microsoft Word to apply the integration changes.

Open your mail merge document in Microsoft Word and navigate to the 'Mailings' tab on the top ribbon.

Click the 'Insert Merge Field' button. A dropdown menu will appear displaying the column headers from your connected data source (such as your Excel spreadsheet).

Choose the specific field that contains your recipients' email addresses to insert it into the document. Once an email field is present, the 'Finish & Merge' option should become active.

Open Microsoft Word, click on 'Help' in the top menu bar, and select 'Check for Updates'. Install any pending updates for both Word and Outlook to ensure compatibility.

Open Microsoft Excel and create a new, simple spreadsheet with two column headers: 'Name' and 'Email'. Add one row of test data and save the file to your desktop.

In your Word document, go to Mailings > Select Recipients > Use an Existing List, and choose your new test file. If the email merge activates, your original data source may be improperly formatted or corrupted.