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Mail Merge Demystified

Part I: Using Your Own Address List for Letters
Kim Murdock, Pagrovia Technology

Mail Merge is a powerful and dynamic feature in Word XP and 2003.  In fact, it’s so dynamic that it can be a little overwhelming, and might even keep you from using it.  But read on!  Mail Merge is a major saver of time and effort, and I promise it will pay off for you.

We’ll start with a basic task – a straightforward, one-page form letter to 3 different people.  Here’s what we’re going to do:

1. Create a sample form letter.
2. Create a sample table of names and addresses.   We’re going to emulate working with the kind of address list a lot of us already have.  We could use a Word wizard to do this, but I’d rather keep it simple.
3. Associate the address list with the form letter.
4. Insert merge fields into the form letter.
5. Merge and print the letters.

Step 1 – Create the sample form letter.

	Create a letter however you normally do it. Let’s type “XX” as placeholders to mark the locations where merged information will go – at the address block and salutation. Save it as “My Form Letter.doc” in your My Documents folder.

Step 2 – Create a sample address table.

You can skip this step if you already have your names and addresses saved in a table, but it must have headings like the ones below.

• Create a new blank document and insert a two-row, four-column table.
• Add headings to each of the columns so the table looks like this:

 

• Now type information into each of the cells like this: 

• Continue adding information until you have three recipients.
• Save it as “My Form Data.doc” in your My Documents folder.

Step 3 – Associate the address list with letter. 

• With the letter on your screen, click Tools > Letters and Mailings > Mail Merge on the menu.

	The Mail Merge Task Pane appears to the right of your letter. “Letters” is selected by default, so move to the next step by clicking the “Next” link at the bottom of the task pane.
	Again, we’re just going to use the default setting to use the current document as our form letter. Click the “Next” link at the bottom of the Task Pane.
	“Use an existing list” is selected by default, but we need to identify our address list, so click the “Browse…” link in the middle of the task pane.

	The Select Data Source dialog box will open. Click the “Up One Level” button that I’ve circled in red.  This will display the My Documents folder.
	Select the address file we created previously, and click the Open button.
	Word displays your data in a dialog box.  There are a number of options here… and we’re going to ignore them all. Click OK to associate this data source with your letter.
	The Task Pane now shows the path to the data.  We have succeeded in associating our list with our letter! Click “Next” at the bottom of the Task Pane.

Step 4 – Insert merge fields into the letter.

	Since we created our own custom address table, we’ll insert custom fields into the letter. Move to the XX in your letter where the first field will go. Delete the XX and leave your cursor there. Click on “More items…” to display the Insert Merge Field dialog box.
	Click the Full_Name field in the list, then click Insert.  The Full_Name field is inserted into the document. Click Close. In the document, press the Enter key to insert a Hard Return. Repeat these steps to insert the Position and Address fields immediately under the Full_Name field.
	Move your cursor to the XX in the salutation line, and delete it. Insert the Salutation field. When you’re done, your document should look like the fields at left. Save your document. Click the “Next” link at the bottom of the Task Pane.

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Step 5 – Merge the letters.

	Click on the right and left arrow buttons on the Task Pane to preview the letters with the information inserted into them.
	Notice that Word closes up missing info for you; a person with no Position will not have a blank line in their address. Click the “Next” link at the bottom of the Task Pane.
	If you click “Print” your finished letters will not be saved.  The only way to save them is to click “Edit individual letters…”.  This creates a single document containing all the letters.
	Word will ask you one last question – which records should it merge?  Leave “All” selected and click OK. Scroll through your new document and admire your handiwork. When you’re done, you can close the Task Pane.

Final Comments

Once you get the hang of it, you can do some pretty amazing things with Mail Merge.  You can insert fields that will print one thing if something is true and a different thing if it’s false.  You can merge with different sources, including Excel, Access or Outlook.  We’ll take a look at some of those possibilities next time.

©2007 Kim Murdock