---
title: "Newsletter sign-up shows ‘Your merge fields were invalid’"
description: "When a guest submits the newsletter sign-up form, they see the message 'Your merge fields were invalid', and no subscriber is added to your list. **Why…"
url: "https://homerunner.io/docs/why-does-the-newsletter-sign-up-form-show-your-merge-fields-were-invalid-and-not/"
updated: "2026-10-27"
category: Setup and plugins
---

# Newsletter sign-up shows ‘Your merge fields were invalid’

When a guest submits the newsletter sign-up form, they see the message 'Your merge fields were invalid', and no subscriber is added to your list.

**Why this happens.** This message comes from Mailchimp. It means your Mailchimp audience requires fields that the website form does not send. Most often these are First name and Last name, while the form only collects an email address.

**How to fix it.** You have two options.

**Option 1: make the fields optional in Mailchimp.**

1. Open your Audience in Mailchimp.
2. Go to **Settings**, then 'Audience fields and *|MERGE|* tags'.
3. Untick **Required** for First name and Last name.

**Option 2: add the fields to the website form.** Add first and last name fields to the website form so the required values are sent to Mailchimp.

After making the change, test it by submitting a sign-up and checking your Mailchimp audience for the new subscriber.