Word Mail Merge

Basically, a mail merge includes two elements.

1. The data source - list of recipients in Word, Excel or Access
2. The merge document - letter, label, envelope, etc.

1. The Data Source:
   1. If you are using a Word document as your data source, organize your data in a table format with column headings for each field in your data. If you would prefer not to construct a table, you may instead simply separate your data types with commas or tabs. (ex. John, Smith, 210 Smith Lane, Ft. Wayne, IN, 46805)
   2. If you are using an Excel document as your data source, use data labels on column or row headings

   

   3. If you are using an Access file as your data source, every record is broken down into specific fields for you (First Name, Last Name, etc.)

   

2. The Merge Document - Labels:
   1. From the MS Word menu bar, Tools > Letters and Mailings > Mail Merge Wizard.
   2. You will see the Mail Merge Task Pane to the right. Click the radio button in front of Labels.
   3. Click Next: Starting Document to continue (at the bottom of the task pane).
   4. From Step 2 of the Wizard, Word suggests you check your Label options. Click Label options... in the task pane.
   5. Read each box under Label Options.
   1. Is your printer a laser / ink jet or dot matrix?
   2. Do you plan to manually feed your labels?
   3. Choose the product name and number. If your label doesn't seem to match any of the product numbers listed, check the box to see if they recommend a product number that works with this size label.
   4. Click OK.
   6. Click Next: Select recipients to go on to Step 3 of the Wizard.
   7. To use our existing data source we'll click Browse... from the task pane. You see the Select Data Source dialog box.
   8. From the Look in: field, click the drop-down list at the end of the field to display all your available drives. Find the appropriate folder and file for your data source and click Open.
   9. If your data source is an Excel spread sheet, once you open the file, you won't see the name of the spreadsheet on the Select Table dialog box. If you did not name the tabs on your worksheets, your data is likely on Sheet1$; select this sheet. It may also help to choose the correct sheet by the date/time information listed for each sheet.
   10. If you had data labels as column headers, be sure the check box labeled First row of data contains column headers is selected and click OK.
   11. You will see the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box. By default, all data source records should be selected.
       1. You can sort your data source by clicking on the button at the top of each column.
       2. You can also deselect desired records from the check boxes.
       3. If this is the wrong worksheet, close the dialog box from the X in the upper right. Then click Select a different list… to select your data and click OK.
   12. Click Next: Arrange your labels to go on to Step 4 of the Wizard.
   13. If you click on Address block... You can choose a specific layout.
   14. If you click on More items... you can insert the fields of your data source on to the labels by double-clicking on the field names. If your field names don't match address type fields, More items might be preferable to an address block because Word will list the fields or data labels just as you created them. Click OK.
   15. Click Update all labels.
   16. Click Next: Preview your labels to move on to Step 5 and see an example of your data source as labels. Be sure to preview all your labels by clicking the >> button at the top of the task pane. If you see a record that is missing data or is incorrect, you don't have to start over from step 1.
       1. Look at the task pane under Make changes. If the data source is a Word document, a Publisher address list, or a saved mail-merge, we can edit the source document from the Edit button.
       2. If the data source is an Excel spreadsheet, we cannot edit the data source from this window. Instead, we'll simply deselect the lines with missing or incorrect data so we can continue our merge. Later, we'll go back to our source file, correct the missing or incorrect data and do another mail merge for just the data we corrected. Click OK.
   17. Click Next: Complete the merge to go on to Step 6. When you are sure that all your data sources are arranged properly on your labels, click Print.
   18. If you consider yourself an advanced computer user, you could get a final glimpse of all your labels instead of printing. If you click Edit individual labels.... You will see a new window with all your labels displayed.
   1. You can make changes to your labels at this point, but it does not change the information in your data source.
   2. You also have the choice of saving the corrected mail merge as a new Word document, or simply printing from the window where you made your corrections.

If you have any questions or problems, feel free to call the Help Desk at 481-6030.