Mail Merge

Question: How do you create a mail merge document in Word using an Excel spreadsheet?

This is a common question, and even people who have done Mail Merge before often forget how to set up a conenction between the two programs.

- Create your table of data in a new Excel spreadsheet. I have chosen to use address details for this example, as it is the most common reason to run a Mail Merge:

-  I have included the following headings in the Excel table (which will be very helpful later):

• Title - Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, Dr
• Forname - First Name
• Initial - The initial of the persons middle name
• Surname - Last Name
• Address Line 1 - I have broken the address into five sections - one for each line
• Address Line 2
• Address Line 3
• Address Line 4
• Address Line 5
• Post Code
• Phone Number
• Mobile Number

- Save the Excel spreadsheet, open Microsoft (c) Word and create a new blank document.

- Select Tools > Letters and Mailings > Mail Merge...

- A help 'wizard' will then appear on the right hand side of the screen. Step 1 select Letters and in Step 2 you want to select Use the current document.

- Step 3 asks you to provide the source for the mail merge. Select Use an exisiting list and then click on Browse to find your Excel spreadsheet.

- You will then be asked which sheet you want to use for the Mail Merge. This refers to the name of the sheet in Excel where you entered the data (usually this is Sheet 1 but check if you are unsure).

- Now the data from your Excel spreadsheet is displayed in the Mail Merge Recipients box. You can use the tick boxes on the left to deselect individuals you do not want included in this Mail Merge.

- In Step 4 you begin to 'Write the Letter', and for this you will need access to the Mail Merge Toolbar...

If you cannot see this, then right click on the blue area next to Help and select Mail Merge as shown below:


This will make the Mail Merge Toolbox appear, and you then need to select the Insert Merge Fields button, to display the items you can add to the Word document:

- Now you can add the merge fields to your letter, as shown below:

- To view the letter, with the data from your Excel table, click on the View Merged Data button. You can use the Previous Record and Next Record buttons to move to the previous/next set of data: