Mail merge dates showing as numbers in Google Sheets™ (and currency losing its £)
The sheet shows 21/09/2026. The email says 46286. The sheet shows £1,234.50; the email says 1234.5. Nothing is wrong with your data — the merge tool read the value underneath the formatting.
Why it happens
Google Sheets™ stores a date as a number: days since 30 December 1899. Currency, percentages and leading zeros are formatting laid over a plain number. Some merge tools use the displayed text; others use the stored value, and some differ between the subject line and the body. A phone number stored as a number also loses its leading zero: 07700… becomes 7700….
Fixes that work with any tool
- Add a text column for merging.
=TEXT(B2,"d mmmm yyyy")for dates,=TEXT(C2,"£#,##0.00")for money,=TEXT(D2,"0%")for percentages. Merge on the new column; keep the original for sorting. - Store phone numbers and IDs as text. Format the column as Plain text before pasting, or type a leading apostrophe.
- Watch long IDs. Numbers above 15 digits lose precision in any spreadsheet: a 16-digit card or member number can change its last digit. Store them as text.
- Mind the locale. 03/04 is 3 April in the UK and March 4 in the US. Spell the month out in anything you send.
See what will actually be sent
Mail Merge Pre-flight Check knows which value each supported merge tool uses, flags dates, currency and numbers that will arrive as raw values and leading zeros and long IDs that will be mangled, and previews the finished email. Checking is free.
Mail Merge Pre-flight Check checks your list and template in one click. Checking is free.
Mail Merge Pre-flight Check is not affiliated with Google or with any merge tool named on this page. Names are used only to identify them.