Mail Merge in Microsoft Word allows you to send personalized letters and emails without having to customize each letter. You can prepare your document however you want and add placeholders for the various data fields that you want to dynamically populate from the data source.
For example, you can prepare one letter for all your friends asking how they are doing, but with the ability to dynamically change the names and cities in the letter. Thus, in your regular letter to John, his name and city will be mentioned, and in the same letter to Mike, Mike’s name and his city will be indicated.
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Create the recipient list in an Excel spreadsheet
You will need to collect the list of recipients and their data into a single data source. The easiest way to do this is to create a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and add all recipient data to it. Then you can extract this Excel data into a mail merge letter in Microsoft Word
- Use the Start menu search to find and open Microsoft Excel.
- Click the Home tab in the left sidebar and select Blank Book in the right sidebar. This will create a blank sheet for you.
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- Begin entering information for your mail merge recipients. Be sure to use the first line for your data headers. If you are going to enter someone’s name, use the name as the title on the first line, and so on.
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- In the following example, we have created a table with some data for four people. For each of these people, we will create a custom mail merge letter in Microsoft Word
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- Click the File menu at the top, select Save in the left sidebar and click the Browse button.
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- Go to your desktop, enter a name for your Excel spreadsheet, and click the Save button to save the spreadsheet to your desktop. This will make it easier to find your table when using it in Microsoft Word
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- You can close Microsoft Excel on your computer.
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Set up your document in Microsoft Word
You will need to write a sample letter that you want to send to each of the recipients. This letter should contain information common to all recipients. Some examples include writing a greeting line, asking how are you, sharing thoughts, etc.
Do not fill in the fields where you want to place information about the recipients. You will add this later when you run the mail merge in Microsoft Word
- Launch Microsoft Word from the Start menu on your computer.
- Click Home in the left sidebar and select Blank Document in the right sidebar. You can also use a template if you want.
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- A blank document will open. Write the letter you want to send to recipients.
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- You can use whatever colors, formatting, font styles, and other elements you like. We’ve created the following simple email to send to our recipients. At the top of the letter will be the name of the person, and below his city.
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- Do not close the document while you merge in the section below.
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Create a Microsoft Word Mail Merge
Microsoft Word allows you to create a mail merge using a step-by-step wizard. This makes it much easier to select the letter you want to use, add the desired recipients and dynamically change the content of the letter.
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- While your email is still open in Word, click the Mailings tab at the top, select the Start Mail Merge option, and select “Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard”.
- A new panel will appear on the right side of the screen. In the first section labeled “Select Document Type” select “Letters”. You can select Email Messages if you want to send an email.
Then click Next: Start Document at the bottom to continue.
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- On the next screen, Word asks which document you want to use for the mail merge. Select the Use Current Document option to use the current letter for the task.
If your letter is in another Word file, click “Start from Existing Document” to open that file.
Then click Next: select the recipients below.
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- In the Select Recipients section, select Use an existing list. This is because you have already created an Excel spreadsheet containing your recipients’ data.
You can select the “Enter a new list” option if you have not yet collected your recipient data.
Then click Browse to import the Excel spreadsheet.
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- Go to your desktop and double-click the Excel spreadsheet you created earlier. This will open the spreadsheet in Microsoft Word
- Word will ask which sheet from the table you want to use. Select the sheet containing your data, check the box next to “First row of data contains column headings” and click “OK”.
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- Word lets you select the recipients you want to use for the mail merge if you don’t want to use everyone on the list. Check the boxes for the people you want to include in your emails.
You can use the refinement options below the list to sort and filter recipients. Sorting allows you to sort the records in ascending and descending order. Filtering allows you to compare fields and filter out the ones you don’t need.
Finally, click “OK” at the bottom.
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- Click Next: write your letter below.
- The next screen allows you to use data fields in your email. To use this, place your cursor where you want to add the data field in the email and click More Items in the right pane.
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- Select the data field you want to add and click “Insert” at the bottom.
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- You need to add all data fields to the letter so that the letters contain all the necessary information. Then click Next: Preview Letters.
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- You can preview the mails that will be generated as a result of the merge. Click the left and right arrow icons to view the messages for each recipient.
Then click Next: Complete the merge.
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- You can now click Print to print these personalized emails, or select Edit Individual Emails to edit these emails.
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Merging letters really saves time in Microsoft Word
Did you know that you can combine multiple documents in Word? This will help if you have already written your personal letters and want to combine them into one file.
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