Mail merge with hyperlinks inside if statement (Microsoft word) [closed]

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I am trying to create a mail merge with a hyperlink inside of an “if” statement (the link only appears if a certain mergefield exists), where both the link address and display text are different mergefields. I am using Microsoft Word, Version 16.101.3.

I have gotten the mergefield links to work outside of the “if” statement doing the following:

Insert > Field > Hyperlink; this creates the following: { HYPERLINK \* MERGEFORMAT }
Insert a mergefield into the code: { HYPERLINK { MERGEFIELD personal_link } \* MERGEFORMAT }
The default text says “Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.” I replace this text with a mergefield { MERGEFIELD personal_text } and delete the other text

However, these steps do NOT seem to work inside of an “if” statement. I can still do steps 1 and 2 above, but then the text itself is not clickable, and if I try to add a mergefield within the display text it just disappears.

Is this a bug, or am I doing something wrong? Are there any workarounds?

If it is not possible to get personalized display text, I would be okay with just generic text as long as the link address is a mergefield. But right now I cannot get either to work! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

macropod · Accepted Answer · 2025-10-19 22:29:55Z

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You can't embed hyperlink fields inside IF fields in a mailmerge and get a working hyperlink field at the end. You would need to use a post-merge macro to convert them into hyperlinks - in which case you might as well just have {MERGEFIELD personal_link} inside your IF test. See the Activate Plain-Text Email Addresses & Hyperlinks topic on the Mailmerge Tips & Tricks page at: https://www.msofficeforums.com/mail-merge/21803-mailmerge-tips-tricks.html.

You can also use IF fields inside hyperlink fields to vary the hyperlink address and/or the hyperlink display text. For basic instructions on how to vary the hyperlink display text, see the Mailmerge Hyperlink ‘Click Here’ Insertion topic on the Mailmerge Tips & Tricks page at: https://www.msofficeforums.com/mail-merge/21803-mailmerge-tips-tricks.html In this case, you could use a post-merge macro to delete any invalid hyperlinks.

The “Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.” message is to be expected before the merge is executed, as {MERGEFIELD personal_link} is not itself a valid hyperlink address. You can probably delete the * MERGEFORMAT switch; it likely does nothing useful in the context.

edited Oct 19 at 22:29

answered Oct 16 at 21:52

macropod

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a25709 Oct 19 at 18:30

The page you linked was very helpful -- I ended up using (a slightly modified version of) the code to post-process url text and display text to create a clickable link in my final document as needed. Thanks so much for the help!

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