How to send a newsletter in Gmail: a step-by-step guide

You can send a newsletter in Gmail by composing a message and adding recipients through a Google Contacts label, using Gmail mail merge, or using BCC for smaller lists. The best method depends on your account type and list size.

Free Gmail accounts allow up to 500 emails per day. Group your subscribers with contact labels and add them via BCC to keep their addresses hidden from each other.

Google Workspace accounts support up to 2,000 emails per day, and most plans include mail merge. Mail merge inserts each recipient’s name or other details into your message, with a cap of 1,500 personalized emails per day.

Here are the eight steps to send a newsletter in Gmail:

1. Check if Gmail fits your newsletter needs
2. Pick the right account type for your sends
3. Organize your subscribers in Google Contacts
4. Write and format your newsletter in Gmail
5. Use Gmail mail merge for personalized sends
6. Use BCC to send to a small list
7. Test your email before it goes to your full list
8. Hit send and make sure everything was delivered

1. Decide whether Gmail is the right tool for your newsletter

Gmail works best for occasional newsletters sent to a small, permission-based list. Think internal updates, class announcements, community news, or client check-ins. Use a dedicated email marketing platform if you plan to send public newsletters regularly, grow your audience, or manage campaigns at scale.

Gmail provides two main sending options. Both free Gmail and Google Workspace accounts can use BCC to hide recipients’ email addresses. Eligible Google Workspace plans also include mail merge, which sends a separate, personalized email to each recipient.

You can use a Google Contacts label with either method to select a saved group instead of manually adding every address.

Use Gmail if:

• You have a very small recipient list.
• You send newsletters only occasionally.
• A simple email design is enough.
• You don’t need detailed open-and-click tracking.
• You can handle new subscribers and unsubscribe requests manually.

Use an email marketing platform if:

• You regularly send public or business newsletters.
• You need sign-up forms and subscriber management.
• You want branded templates or more design control.
• You need automated follow-ups.
• You want to track opens and clicks.
• Your growing list creates deliverability or compliance concerns.

If you want to go beyond Gmail from the start, you can create an email newsletter with a dedicated platform instead.

2. Choose between a free Gmail account and Google Workspace

Use free Gmail if you’re sending occasional updates to a very small list, and BCC provides everything you need. Choose an eligible Google Workspace plan if you want to send from a custom business address or use Gmail mail merge for personalized emails.

Google Workspace has several plans. This table compares free Gmail with the Business Standard plan, the lowest tier that includes mail merge.

These prices are for annual billing. Monthly rates are higher. If you just want a custom domain address without mail merge, the Starter plan at $7/user/month still lets you send newsletters with BCC.

Google Workspace plans let you send from an address like you@yourbusiness.com instead of you@gmail.com. A branded sender address looks more professional and can help build trust with your recipients.

If your list is under 100 and this is a hobby or club newsletter, free Gmail is fine. If you have a business domain, more than 100 subscribers, or plan to send monthly, Business Standard pays for itself in sender credibility alone.

3. Build your subscriber list in Google Contacts

Create labels in Google Contacts to keep your subscribers organized and divide them into basic segments, such as customers, event attendees, or people interested in different topics. This makes it easier to send each newsletter to the most relevant group.

To set up your list:

1. Go to contacts.google.com and sign in with the Gmail account you’ll send from.
2. Click Create contact to add subscribers one by one, or click Import to upload a CSV file.
3. If importing, open Google’s sample template, make a copy, and fill in your subscriber details. Then download it as a CSV file and upload it through the Import screen.
4. Select all the contacts you want on your newsletter list.
5. Click the Manage labels icon at the top of the page. Choose an existing label or create a new one, like “Newsletter subscribers.”
6. Confirm the contacts are added to the label.

If your list has more than 3,000 contacts, split the CSV into smaller files before importing. Google Contacts can have trouble processing larger batches in a single upload.

Only add people who’ve given you permission to email them. Gmail suspends accounts that send bulk email to people who never signed up, and recipients marking your messages as spam hurts your ability to reach inboxes in the future.

Permission isn’t a one-time step, though. Your list needs regular upkeep to stay accurate as people lose interest or change their minds.

Good email list segmentation starts with a clean, consent-based list, so you’ll need to update your labels and remove people who unsubscribe manually.

4. Draft your newsletter content in Gmail

Open a new compose window in Gmail and start writing your newsletter. Build your newsletter around one clear purpose, such as sharing an update, announcing an event, or directing readers to a new resource. Include a descriptive subject line, a concise message, one primary call to action, and your sender information.

Writing a strong subject line

Your subject line should tell recipients what the email contains and give them a reason to open it. Put the most important information first so the meaning remains clear if the subject line is shortened on a smaller screen.

• Keep the key message within the first 40 characters.
• Avoid excessive capitalization, punctuation, and misleading claims like “FREE!!!” or “WINNER.”
• Be specific about what’s inside. “March studio schedule” beats “Newsletter #4.”

Structure your message

Start with a short introduction explaining the purpose of the email. Then present the main information using short paragraphs, headings, or bullet points.

If you want readers to visit a page, register for an event, or take another action, include one prominent link with clear text, such as View the full schedule or Register for the workshop.

End the newsletter with your name, organization, and relevant contact details.

If you’re using the BCC method, add a manual unsubscribe line at the bottom, like “Reply UNSUBSCRIBE to be removed from this list.”

Mail merge automatically adds an unsubscribe link to each email. When a recipient clicks it, they’re removed from future mail merge sends, and you’ll get a notification.

Formatting your email

Use Gmail’s formatting toolbar to adjust font sizes, bold text, links, and bulleted lists. Keep formatting simple, as not every email app shows layouts the same way.

Google Workspace Business Standard, higher-tier plans, and Workspace Individual include Gmail Layouts. It lets you add headers, multi-column sections, buttons, and images in a drag-and-drop editor, and save your brand colors, fonts, and logos for consistent styling.

To add an image to any Gmail account, click Insert photo and place it inline. Don’t rely solely on images, as some recipients may have them disabled.

Stick to a single-column structure and readable fonts for the best results across devices. You can design newsletters with a cleaner layout by following a few core formatting principles.

5. Send your newsletter using Gmail mail merge

Gmail mail merge sends each recipient a separate copy of your newsletter and lets you personalize the message with details such as their first name. It also hides other recipients’ addresses and automatically adds an unsubscribe link.

Mail merge is available with Workspace Individual and selected Business, Enterprise, and Education plans, including Business Standard. It isn’t available with free Gmail or Business Starter accounts.

To send with mail merge:

1. Open Gmail and click Compose to start a new email.
2. On the right side of the To field, click the Use mail merge icon to turn on mail merge mode.
3. In the To field, enter the Google Contacts label you set up for your subscribers. Gmail will add the contacts assigned to that label.
4. Add your subject line and newsletter content.
5. To personalize the email, type @ in the body. Select a tag from the dropdown, like @firstname, @lastname, @fullname, or @email. Each tag gets replaced with the recipient’s actual info when the email is sent. Merge tags don’t work in subject lines or hyperlinked text.
6. Review the recipient list and save the message as a draft. Don’t send it until you’ve completed the testing step below.

For example, “Hi @firstname” becomes “Hi Sarah” or “Hi David” depending on the contact. If a first name is missing, Gmail flags an error before sending. You can set a fallback value, such as “friend,” or fix the missing fields in Google Contacts.

Mail merge automatically adds an unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email. See the compliance section for what else your newsletter needs to include.

Mail merge supports up to 1,500 recipients per day. This limit includes the regular emails you send before or during the mail merge process. If you regularly send to an audience near or above this limit, use a dedicated email marketing platform instead of dividing the campaign across multiple days.

6. Send your newsletter using BCC

BCC lets you send the same newsletter to a small group while hiding recipients’ email addresses from one another. Use it only for occasional sends to a very small, non-sensitive list because Gmail provides no personalization, automatic unsubscribe handling, or subscriber management.

If you’re on Google Workspace, use mail merge from step five instead. It personalizes each email and adds an automatic unsubscribe link.

To send with BCC:

1. Open Gmail and click Compose.
2. Click BCC and start typing the name of your contact label. Click the label when it appears in the suggestions to fill in all the addresses. Use a desktop or laptop for this step, as label autocomplete doesn’t work in the BCC field on the Gmail mobile app on either iOS or Android.
3. In the To field, enter your own email address. This is optional, but it lets you see exactly what your recipients receive.
4. Review the address list to make sure the right contacts are included.
5. Paste your newsletter content from your draft.
6. Add a manual unsubscribe line at the bottom, like “Reply UNSUBSCRIBE to be removed.”
7. Click Send.

Free Gmail accounts can send up to 500 outgoing messages per day, and every recipient counts toward that limit. This is a technical maximum, not a recommended newsletter size.

BCC works for small, occasional updates. For recurring newsletters, a growing audience, branded designs, automated unsubscribe management, and campaign tracking, use a dedicated email marketing platform such as Hostinger Reach.

7. Send a test email before the real send

Send a test email before distributing the newsletter to your full list. This helps you catch broken links, incorrect personalization, missing images, and formatting problems while they can still be fixed.

Send the test to yourself and at least one colleague using the same sending method you’ll use for the final newsletter. If you’re using mail merge, use test contact details so you can confirm that the merge tags are replaced correctly.

Open your test email on your phone and on your desktop. Formatting that looks fine on a large screen can break on a smaller one.

More than half of all email opens now happen on mobile devices. According to Constant Contact/Chadwick Martin Bailey study, roughly 75% of American smartphone users will delete an email that doesn’t display correctly on their phone.

Apple Mail is the most widely used email client globally, with over 60% market share, so start your testing there. Then check Gmail desktop, the Gmail mobile app, and Outlook if your subscribers use it.

Check for these things in your test:

• All links point to the right pages and actually work.
• Images display inline, not as downloadable attachments.
• The subject line isn’t cut off on mobile.
• Merge tags display actual names in the preview.
• The unsubscribe line is visible at the bottom.
• The email doesn’t land in your spam folder.
• The email renders correctly in dark mode, especially on iPhone. Apple Mail and Gmail on iOS can invert colors, making light-background emails hard to read.

Check whether the test reaches the inbox or spam folder, but don’t treat one successful delivery as proof that the full campaign will reach every recipient.

Fix any problems in the draft and send another test. Continue only when the corrected version displays and functions as expected.

8. Send the newsletter and confirm delivery

After the test email works correctly, return to your final draft and review the subject line, content, recipient list, and sending method one last time. Then click Send.

The message appearing in your Sent folder confirms that Gmail submitted it for delivery, but it doesn’t guarantee that every recipient received it or that it reached their inbox.

After sending, check for:

• Sent folder: Mail merge shows individual sent emails, each marked with a “Sent with mail merge” banner. BCC shows one sent email.
• Monitor your inbox and spam folder. If Gmail can’t deliver a message, it sends a notification from Mail Delivery Subsystem, often with the subject Delivery Status Notification (Failure). These notifications may take several hours to arrive.
• Remove invalid addresses. If the notification says the address or domain doesn’t exist, correct the address or remove the contact from your newsletter label.
• Review temporary failures. A full inbox, an unavailable server, or temporary rejection doesn’t always require immediate removal. Read the notification to see whether Gmail will retry delivery.
• Investigate repeated or widespread failures. If several messages are rejected, pause before sending again and check your list quality, sender authentication, sending limits, and spam-related issues.

If more than a handful of your emails bounce, clean the list before your next send. A high bounce rate signals to Gmail that your list isn’t well-maintained, which can slow down future sends.

Keep a simple note or spreadsheet with the send date, subject line, and list size. Tracking your send frequency prevents you from accidentally emailing your list too often and helps you notice when reply rates drop.

Mail merge vs. BCC: which method should you use?

Mail merge sends each recipient a separate personalized email with an automatic unsubscribe link. BCC sends a single identical message to everyone. Both methods hide recipient addresses from each other, but only mail merge adds personalization.

How to avoid landing in the spam folder

Spam filters check your sending history, email content, and technical setup to decide whether your newsletter reaches the inbox. Even well-written emails can land in spam if the basics are off.

Send only to people who subscribed

Don’t buy email lists or add people who haven’t agreed to receive your newsletter. Unwanted messages are more likely to generate spam complaints, which can damage your sender’s reputation and affect future delivery.

Remove invalid addresses and unsubscribe requests promptly. Make the unsubscribe instructions easy to find so recipients don’t use the spam button to stop receiving your emails.

Authenticate your domain if you’re on Workspace

If you send from a custom domain through Google Workspace, configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC in your domain’s DNS settings:

• SPF identifies the servers authorized to send email for your domain.
• DKIM verifies that the message was sent by your domain and wasn’t altered in transit.
• DMARC tells receiving servers how to handle messages that fail authentication checks.

Google requires sending domains to use at least SPF or DKIM and recommends configuring all three methods. Senders delivering more than 5,000 messages per day to personal Gmail accounts must use SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.

Free Gmail users don’t need to do this. Google handles it automatically for @gmail.com addresses.

Keep your image-to-text ratio balanced

Aim for at least 60% text in your email. An email that’s mostly images with little text looks suspicious to spam filters.

Always add alt text to every image. If a subscriber’s email client blocks images by default, alt text gives them context and keeps your message readable. It also helps spam filters understand what the image is about.

Avoid spammy subject lines

Words and phrases like “FREE!!!,” “WINNER,” “ACT NOW,” and anything in all caps raise flags. Write subject lines that describe what’s actually inside the email.

Keep the key message within the first 40 characters so it displays fully on the most restrictive mobile clients. Personalization helps too. Something like “Your June class schedule” performs better than “Don’t miss this amazing update!”

Start small with a new sender address

If you’ve never sent bulk email from your address before, send to smaller groups first. Try 50 recipients the first week, then increase gradually. A sudden spike in volume from a new address looks suspicious.

This process is called warming up your sender reputation. Email providers like Gmail and Outlook track how recipients interact with your messages. If your first batch gets good open rates and few spam reports, providers trust your address more over time.

Watch your complaint rate

Google tracks how often people mark your emails as spam and sets strict limits. Aim to keep your complaint rate below 0.10%, or roughly fewer than one complaint per 1,000 emails. If it reaches 0.30%, Google may block your emails entirely rather than just filtering them to spam.

Keep your list permission-based and make it easy to unsubscribe so people don’t reach for the spam button instead.

Sticking to email newsletter best practices helps you avoid spam folders and keep your subscribers engaged over time.

Newsletter compliance: unsubscribe, consent, and sender identity

Every newsletter needs to meet basic legal requirements around consent, sender identification, and unsubscribe options. These aren’t optional, and violating them can lead to fines and account suspensions.

United States: CAN-SPAM Act

CAN-SPAM is the US law that governs commercial email. Every newsletter you send must include:

• A physical mailing address.
• A working unsubscribe option, honored within 10 business days.
• An honest subject line.
• Accurate sender information in the From and Reply-To fields.
• A clear disclosure that the message is an ad.

Unlike GDPR and CASL, CAN-SPAM doesn’t require prior consent before sending. It’s an opt-out law, meaning you can email people without permission as long as you include the required elements and honor unsubscribe requests promptly.

European Union: GDPR

GDPR is the European privacy law that applies to anyone emailing EU residents. It requires explicit consent before adding someone to your list, and every email must identify the sender by name and include a valid contact address.

Pre-checked opt-in boxes don’t count as consent under GDPR. Your subscribers need to actively check the box or type their email themselves. Keep a record of when and how each person subscribed in case you need to prove consent.

Canada: CASL

CASL is Canada’s anti-spam law. Every commercial email needs recipient consent, clear sender identification, and a working unsubscribe option you honor within 10 business days.

Express consent means the person actively signed up. Implied consent applies to existing business relationships, but it expires – two years for purchases or contracts, six months for inquiries or applications.

What Gmail handles and what you must manage

Gmail mail merge adds an unsubscribe link and prevents unsubscribed recipients from receiving future mail merge messages from the same sender. It doesn’t manage every legal requirement or prevent you from accidentally contacting that person through regular Gmail.

With BCC, you must manually provide and process unsubscribe requests.

Regardless of the method, you remain responsible for:

• Maintaining consent records.
• Including the required sender and contact information.
• Removing unsubscribed recipients from future campaigns.
• Keeping subscriber information accurate and secure.
• Following the laws that apply to your audience.

If you regularly send newsletters across multiple countries, use a dedicated email marketing platform and obtain legal guidance appropriate to your business and audience.

When to move from Gmail to a dedicated email marketing tool

Move from Gmail when newsletters become a regular marketing activity rather than an occasional group update. You don’t need to wait until you reach Gmail’s sending limits. The need for subscriber management, automation, branded designs, and campaign tracking is usually a stronger signal.

Consider switching when:

• You send public or business newsletters regularly.
• You want sign-up forms that automatically add new subscribers.
• Managing contacts, segments, bounces, and unsubscribe requests manually is becoming difficult.
• You need branded templates with more design control.
• You want to automate welcome emails, follow-ups, or other sequences.
• You need to track opens, clicks, delivery results, and subscriber growth.
• Your audience is growing, and deliverability is becoming more important.

Gmail vs. Hostinger Reach

Hostinger Reach lets you import an existing list, build branded campaigns with AI, create subscription forms, automate follow-up sequences, and track campaign performance from one place.

Gmail remains suitable for a small internal update or an occasional message to a very limited list. For public newsletters, business campaigns, audience growth, and repeat sending, Hostinger Reach is the more practical long-term option.

Common issues when sending newsletters in Gmail

Most Gmail newsletter problems have simple causes and quick fixes.

How many people can I send a newsletter to in Gmail?

Free Gmail accounts can send to up to 500 recipients per day. Google Workspace accounts can send to up to 2,000 recipients per day. If you’re using Gmail Mail Merge, you’re capped at 1,500 recipients per day, leaving the remaining 500 sends for regular emails.

All daily limits run on a rolling 24-hour window, not a calendar-day reset. If you hit your cap at 3 PM, you can’t resume sending until 3 PM the next day.

If you go over these caps, Gmail temporarily blocks you from sending for up to 24 hours. Going over them repeatedly can lead to longer restrictions. If your list regularly exceeds these limits, it’s time to move to a dedicated email marketing platform.

Can I track opens and clicks on a Gmail newsletter?

Gmail does not provide campaign-level open or click tracking for newsletters. Some Google Workspace accounts support read receipts, but recipients may need to approve them, and they do not show which links people clicked.

If you send newsletters regularly and want to understand what’s working, a dedicated email marketing tool is a better fit. Hostinger Reach tracks opens, clicks, unsubscribes, and individual subscriber engagement on a single dashboard.

Next steps after sending your first Gmail newsletter

After your first send, clean your contact list, process unsubscribe requests, record the results, and schedule your next newsletter.

During the next few days:

• Check for messages from Mail Delivery Subsystem and remove addresses that produced hard bounces.
• Process unsubscribe replies immediately and remove those contacts from your newsletter label. For US commercial emails, CAN-SPAM requires requests to be honored within 10 business days. 
• Record the send date, subject line, recipient count, bounces, and unsubscribe requests in a spreadsheet.
• Add the next newsletter date to your calendar and choose a frequency you can maintain.
• Review whether Gmail still provides everything you need.

Gmail may be sufficient for small, occasional newsletters. Consider moving to Hostinger Reach when you need to:

• Send campaigns regularly or to a growing audience.
• Segment contacts based on their interests or engagement.
• Track opens, clicks, deliveries, and unsubscribes.
• Manage unsubscribe requests automatically.
• Create automated sequences such as welcome or follow-up emails.
• Reduce the time spent maintaining contacts and recording results manually.

Hostinger Reach is designed specifically for email marketing and combines campaign creation, contact management, segmentation, automation, and performance reporting.

The author

Justina Bogužaitė

Justina is a Content Writer passionate about marketing, with a background in social media and customer success management. She also loves reading books, traveling and exploring new places as well as cooking, and trying out new recipes. Follow her on LinkedIn.

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