How to Create Bulk Certificates in Word Using Excel (And When to Automate)

The problem with creating certificates one by one

When you only have a few participants, creating certificates in Word can work.
The real problem appears when the number of students grows and manual work starts causing delays and errors.

In this article, you’ll learn how to create bulk certificates in Word using Excel, and why this approach has clear limitations.

Step by step: certificates in Word using Excel

1. Create a certificate template in Word
2. Use Mail Merge
3. Connect an Excel file with:

• Full name
• ID or reference number
• Email address

1. Generate one document per participant

This works — but only up to a certain point.

Limitations of using Word for bulk certificates

• ❌ No automatic email delivery
• ❌ No QR code validation
• ❌ No online verification
• ❌ High risk of manual errors
• ❌ Poor scalability

The professional alternative: certificate automation

When you need to scale, automation becomes essential.

With Diplomium you can:

• Upload a certificate template
• Import your Excel file
• Generate all certificates as PDFs
• Send them automatically by email
• Add QR code verification
• Allow recipients to access certificates without an account