# External table is not in the expected format



## Surajgyl (Dec 12, 2017)

Hello Everyone,

I am using excel table for mail merge, everything was working fine untill once i got the error stating "External table is not in the expected format​". And now everything is mess. Kindly help me in this matter.

Thanks.


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## Joe4 (Dec 12, 2017)

You may want to have a look at this: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...l/3facb2b9-a7ed-41a7-bf22-51666b8418eb?auth=1


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## Surajgyl (Dec 12, 2017)

That's not my case. Mail merge was working fine the other day with same files.


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## Joe4 (Dec 12, 2017)

I would recommend checking for any "strange" data in your table.
Like, if you have a column full of numbers, then a text entry appears.
Also, look for any erroneous, blank, or null values in your table.

To debug, here is how I would approach it:
Start with a table of one record.  Can you get that to work?
If so, then it is probably a data issue.  Keep adding rows back to the table until the error occurs, and try to zero in on the record causing the error.


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## Macropod (Dec 13, 2017)

Surajgyl said:


> And now everything is mess.


Not very descriptive.


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