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What is Mail Merge?

You've probably heard it mentioned around the office or at an interview (especially for a temp agency). You may have heard it referred to with an almost mystical quality.

So, what is mail merge exactly? Quite simply, it is a way of placing content from a spreadsheet, database, or table into a Microsoft Word document. Mail merge is ideal for creating personalized form letters or labels instead of editing the original letter several times to input different personalized information. As you can imagine, this can save a lot of time as well as worry about not changing all of the information for the new recipient.

In order to create a mail merge, two documents are needed: a Word document and a file with the data or records. This file can take many forms, such as an Excel spreadsheet, a database, or even another Word document that has a table in it. In this tutorial I will be using an Excel spreadsheet.

Objectives

\t the end of this tutorial, you should be able to:

• Create a new mail merge from a document and a data source using the PC Mail Merge Sidebar Wizard.
•  Edit an existing merged document using the Mail Merge Toolbar.
• Get a taste for creating and editing mail merge on a Mac. 

This tutorial assumes a basic proficiency with Word and Excel.

Part I: Creating Mail Merge on a PC using the Mail Merge Sidebar Wizard

Before creating a mail merge, it is important to already have your data source ready. Although it is not necessary, I have found that it is easiest to have your Word document set up beforehand as well. Therefore, I have already created a form letter in Microsoft Word and entered my data into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

Here is what my spreadsheet looks like. I used the first row to name my fields and entered the appropriate data in the rows below. As you will see later, naming your rows is very important when it comes to using mail merge. Also, notice how there are two worksheets in my spreadsheet; this will also be important later.

This is my Word document. As you can see, when I created the letter, I used < > to mark where I want variable content to be placed and even entered what the content is supposed to be (i.e.: <Last Name>, <Zip Code>).

Notice how the variable content corresponds to the fields in the spreadsheet above. It is okay that the wording is not exactly the same, for example "Address1" and "Address Line 1."

Starting the Mail Merge Process

Opening the Mail Merge Sidebar Wizard

If you are using Word 2003, open your letter in Word and then bring up the Mail Merge Sidebar Wizard by going to Tools > Letters and Mailings > Mail Merge.

If you are using Word 2007, click on the Mailings Tab on the Ribbon then click on
Start Mail Merge and select Step by 'Step Mail Merge Wizard'.

Step 1: Selecting Document Type

The sidebar to the right will appear on the right side of the window, next to your document.

Since I am working on a letter, I will leave the 'Letters' option checked and click on 'Next: Starting document' at the bottom of the sidebar.

As you can see, there are other options such as 'Envelopes' and 'Labels', which will give you slightly different options as you walk through the steps. No matter which option you choose, the basic concept is still the same.

Step 2: Selecting Starting Document

At this step nothing needs to be done, because I already have the document that I want to use open.  Leave the 'Use the current document' checked and click on
'Next: Select recipients' to move on.

If you have not created your letter already, use this step to do so by selecting either of the other two options shown.

If, instead of a letter, you were merging to labels or envelopes, this step would give you the option to select the type and size of labels or envelopes, such as Avery 5160 labels.

Step 3: Linking to the Data Source

This is the step in which the data source is linked into the             Word document.As you can see there are three options for this:                    Use an existing source, Use Outlook contacts, and Type a new list.                     I would caution against using the 'Type a new list' option as the list                         it creates can often be difficult to manage.To use the Outlook contacts,                          you must already be using a Microsoft Outlook address book, so if you                     do not already use Outlook for your e-mail, then this option will not              work for you.This leaves the first option, using an existing list.           This is why I'd already entered the data I wanted to use into a  spreadsheet before I started the mail merge process.         In order to tell Word where the data source is, click 'Browse.         'Navigate to the folder where your data source is located and     double click on its name to select it.

Because there are two worksheets on the spreadsheet that I selected, the following window pops up, prompting me to select one.

Since my data is on the worksheet called "donors 2006", I select that one. As I have column names in the first row of my spreadsheet, I also make sure that the 'First row of data contains column headers' box is checked before clicking OK.

After selecting the tab that has the data source, another window pops up to confirm the mail merge recipients. If there is someone on the list that you know you do not want to receive the letter, then you can uncheck the box next to that person's row. However, in this case, as with most cases, I want all of my recipients to receive the letter, so I will just click the 'OK' button.

At this point, instead of 'Browse', the Mail Merge Sidebar now tells me the tab name and data source where Word will be getting the merge information. If you accidentally select the wrong source, or if you want to change sources at a later date, you can click 'Select a different list' and browse to it in the same way you chose the first source.

Clicking 'Edit recipient list' will bring up the Mail Merge Recipients window from above. This will allow you to remove a specific record or just double check that you selected the correct set of data for your merge.

Once you are sure that you have selected the correct data source, then click on 'Next:

Write your letter' to go to the next step.

Step 4: Inserting Merge Fields

Now we get to the fun part, inserting recipient information        from the data source into the Word document. As you can see,        there are a number of different options for types of items to insert.        If you pick any of the first four options, then Word will match the        fields that you have in your data source to what it believes are the        corresponding       fields that it has for the items. This is called "mapping."       However, I have found that Word does not always get the       mapping correct.Therefore, I always use the 'More items' option.       This gives me more control over where and how the fields from       my data source are inserted.To do this, first select the place in       the document where you want to insert a field from the data       source and click on 'More items'. A box will pop-up, giving       you a list of all of the fields that are possible to insert.       (Remember how in Step 3 I told Word that the headers were       in our top row? This is why.) Select the field that you want to       insert and click 'Insert'. It will replace the   selected section       of text with "«field_name»." However, if you look at where "<number>" was it now says "«M_of_Tickets». " If you look at the data field from the Excel file, you will notice that it is titled  "# of Tickets." Mail merge has trouble converting spaces and some characters  and spaces into Word, so it will replace them with its own formatting. There is  no need to  no need to worry about this. .

Also, note the spacing around the fields. Word will merge in the data exactly where the fields are placed. So, if you want a space between someone's «First_Name» and «Last_Name», you have to make sure that is there in your document.

Once you have entered all of your merged fields into the correct places and checked the formatting around them, click on 'Next: Preview your letters'.

Step 5: Previewing the Merge

At this step you are able to preview your letters to make sure that everything will look correct once the records from the data source are merged. You can check different recipients' letters by using the arrows, look for a specific record by searching the merge fields, or even 'exclude' one from the merge.

At this step I always spot check at least 4 or 5 recipients (depending on the size of my list) to make sure that all of the merge fields look right. This is how the letter looks with the information from the first recipient on my list filled in.

As you can see, all of the fields filled in exactly the way that I wanted them to. Note that because this recipient has nothing in the "Address2" column of the spreadsheet, that line simply does not appear in his letter. Also, notice how even though the "Donation amt" is formatted in Excel as 'Accounting', the cents are not showing up in the letter. I will show you how to fix this in Part III of the tutorial.

After spot-checking a couple of records, click 'Next: Complete the merge'.

Step 6: Completing the Merge

Once you are happy with the way that your merge is set up, it is time to complete it. You can choose to either print the letters or view the merge as individual letters.

Either option will bring up the box below. You can choose to merge all of the records in the data source, just the 'Current record' that you are displaying in the preview, or a certain section of continuous records.

Note: If you are selecting a certain selection of records from an Excel document, remember that the first row is the Merge field names. Therefore, if you want just rows 3-7 in Excel, you need to type in "2 to 6."

By selecting 'Print', Word will send your merge directly to your printer. Each letter it prints out will have a new recipient's set of data populating the merge fields (as it looks in the preview step). Only choose this step if you are 110% sure that everything is exactly how you want it.

Selecting 'Edit individual letters' will open up a new Word document (usually called "Letters 1"). In this document, each page will contain the form letter with one of the records merged into it. You can then edit individual letters if you want to, for example if you want to add a message to a specific recipient. It's also a good way to do a final check that everything is correct before printing. This is my preferred method when I use mail merge. From this new document, you can just print as normal.

Sometimes there will be a third option: 'Merge to email'. This option is only available if you are using a Microsoft email program, such as Outlook, and if you have "e-mail address" as one of your data fields.

And that's it. You have now created a mail merge. See? It really isn't that hard once you learn the steps

Part II: Mail Merge Toolbar or Mailings Tab on a PC

This is the Mail Merge Toolbar. It can be viewed by going to the menu bar and selecting View > Toolbars > Mail Merge.

The Mail Merge Toolbar can be used to either edit a merge which has been previously set up or to create a new one (if you don't like using the Mail Merge Sidebar).

The first section is like Steps 2 & 3, creating the letter and choosing the data source. You can use the Open Data Source button (second one) to change data sources in an already merged document. This is very useful if you have to send out the same letter over and over again, but the list of recipients changes each time. Just click the button and browse to your new data source.

The second section is like Step 4, allowing you to add fields from your data source. The third button is the 'Merge Fields' button which behaves like the 'More items' choice

The Insert Word Field will be explained in Part III.

The fourth and fifth sections are like Step 5. To preview a record, click on the 'ABC' button. Then you can move through them with the arrow keys or search with the binoculars. Also, the button next to the 'ABC' one will highlight the merged fields, which gives you yet another way to make sure that everything is in the correct place and formatted as you want it to be.

The last section is like Step 6, allowing you to print the merged letters or open them in a new document

This is the Mailing Contextual Tab for Word 2007. It can be viewed clicking the Mailings Tab on the Ribbon.

Just like the Mail Merge Toolbar, the Mailings Tab can be used to either edit a merge which has been previously set up or to create a new one (if you don't like using the Mail Merge Sidebar).

                                   The 'Create' group lets you create an Envelopes or Labels mail merge.

The 'Start Mail Merge' group is like Steps 2 & 3, creating the letter and choosing the data source. The 'Start Mail Merge' button lets you start a mail merge or to pull up the Sidebar Wizard. You can use the 'Select Recipients' button to change data sources in an already merged document. This is very useful if you have to send out the same letter over and over again, but the list of recipients changes each time. Just press the button, choose an existing list, and browse to your new data source. 

The ‘Write & Insert Fields’ group is like Step 4, allowing you to add fields from your data source. The 'Insert Merge Field' button which behaves like the'More items' choice. The 'Highlight Merge Fields' will highlight the merged fields already in the document. The 'Rules' button will be explained in Part III.

The 'Preview Results' group is like Step 5. To preview a record, click on the 'Preview Results' button. Then you can move through them with the arrow keys or search with the'Find Recipient' button. Don't forget about the 'Highlight Merge Fields' button from the previous section, which gives you another way to make sure that everything is in the correct place and formatted the way that you would like it to be.

The last group is like Step 6, by clicking on 'Finish & Merge' you can print the merged letters or open them in a new document. You can also choose to merge them to an Adobe PDF.

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