Introduction

Mail Merge is a useful tool that will allow you to easily produce multiple letters,
labels, envelopes, nametags, and more using information stored in a list,
database, or spreadsheet. In this lesson, you will learn how to use the Mail
Merge Wizard to create a data source and a form letter, and you'll explore
other wizard features.

Mail Merge
When you are performing a Mail Merge, you will need a Word document (you
can start with an existing one or create a new one) and a recipient list, which is
typically an Excel workbook.

If you'd like to work along with the lesson, you can download the examples
below.

 Letter (Word document)
 Recipient list (Excel workbook)

To use Mail Merge:

 1. Open an existing Word document, or create
a new one.
2. Click the Mailings tab.
3. Click the Start Mail Merge command.
4. Select Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard.

The Mail Merge task pane appears and will guide you through the six main
steps to complete a merge. The following is an example of how to create a form
letter and merge the letter with a recipient list.

Step 1:
1. Choose the type of document you want to
create. In this example, select Letters.
 2. Click Next: Starting document to move to
Step 2.

Step 2:
1. Select Use the current document.
 2. Click Next: Select recipients to move to Step
3.

Step 3:
Now you'll need an address list so Word can automatically place each address
into the document. The list can be in an existing file, such as an Excel
workbook, or you can type a new address list from within the Mail Merge
Wizard.

1. From the Mail Merge task pane, select Use an

existing list, then click Browse.

2. Locate your file in the dialog box (you may

have to navigate to a different folder), then
click Open.
3. If the address list is in an Excel workbook,
select the worksheet that contains the list, then
click OK.

4. In the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box, you

can check or uncheck each recipient to control
which ones are used in the merge. When you're
done, click OK to close the dialog box.
 5. From the Mail Merge task pane, click Next:
Write your letter to move to Step 4.

If you don't have an existing address list, you can click the Type a new
listbutton and click Create. You can then type your address list.

Step 4:
Now you're ready to write your letter. When it's printed, each copy of the letter
will basically be the same, except the recipient data—like
the name and address—will be different on each one. You'll need to
add placeholders for the recipient data so Mail Merge knows exactly where to
add the data. If you're using Mail Merge with an existing letter, make sure the
file is open.

To insert recipient data:

1. Place the insertion point in the document where
you want the information to appear.
2. Select Address block, Greeting
line, Electronic postage, or More itemsfrom
the task pane.

3. Depending on your selection, a dialog box may

appear with various options. Select the desired
options, then click OK.
 4. A placeholder appears in your document (for
example: «AddressBlock»).
5. Repeat these steps each time you need to enter
information from your data record.
6. From the Mail Merge task pane, click Next:
Preview your letters to move to Step 5.

For some letters, you'll only need to add an Address block and Greeting line.
Sometimes, however, you may want to place recipient data within the body of
the letter to further personalize it.

Step 5:
1. Preview the letters to make sure information
from the recipient list appears correctly in the
letter. You can use the left and right scroll
arrows to view each document.
 2. Click Next: Complete the merge to move to
Step 6.

Step 6:
1. Click Print to print the letters.
2. The Merge to Printer dialog box opens.
Click All, then click OK.

3. The Print dialog box will appear. Adjust the

print settings if needed, then click OK.
Challenge!
1. Open an existing Word document. If you
want, you can use this example.
2. Download the recipient list.
3. Use the Mail Merge Wizard to merge
the letter with the recipient list.
4. Place an Address Block at the top of the page
and a Greeting line above the body of the
letter.
5. Print the document.

Continue
 How to Perform a Mail Merge in
Word 2010
Author Info

In this Article:With the Mailings TabWithout the Mailings TabCommunity Q&A

Creating multiple e-mails, and changing the recipients information for each e-mail, can
be a tedious task However; Word 2010 comes with a Mail Merge feature allowing the
user to create multiple e-mails for different recipients at once. Although not that many
people know how to use mail merge, this article will show you how.
Method 1
With the Mailings Tab
1.
 1
Launch Word 2010.

2.
 2
Navigate to Mailings Tab.

3.
 3
Go to Start Mail Merge options.

4.
 4
Click Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard.

5.
 5
Choose the type of document you want.

6.
 6
This step will ask you to choose what document to use/type document now.

7.
 7
Choose your recipients.

8.
 8
Choose the Excel worksheet that has your chosen recipients.

9.
 9
Click Open.

10.
 10
Follow the rest of the Mail-Merge Wizard. Depending on the options chosen different dialog
boxes will show up, making very difficult to provide a step by step for the rest. However; the rest
of the steps are self-explanatory.

11.
 11
Click Finish and Merge on the Mailings Tab when done.

Method 2
Without the Mailings Tab
1.
 1
Open the document you want to merge.

2.
 2
Choose the type of document you want to create (letter, envelope, label, e-mail, or
directory).

3.
 3
Choose the list of recipients you want to send the document to.

4.
 4
Add merge fields. Put the cursor where you want the merge field to appear, then click add field
on the ribbon.

5.
 5
Finish and merge.

6.
 6
Check for errors that could have been introduced, during the merge.

7.
 7
Send the merge by e-mail.

 You can also print the merge.

Community Q&A
 Question

How do I use the mail merge feature so that it displays Sir for Mr. and Madam for Mrs.?
 wikiHow Contributor
Community Answer

The easiest way is to add an extra column in your list of recipients that contains the appropriate
term of address. This can then be inserted into your document as another mail merge field in
the same way as the person's name. You could input this column manually, or generate the
correct term of address using a formula in Excel, based off the Title field. Note that this doesn't
work for non-gender-specific titles, so you'll have to fill those in manually. You can make a
formula that outputs a blank for those rows. You'll need the "IF" and "OR" functions. Look those
up using the formula wizard for information about how they work.

Not Helpful 0Helpful 5

Unanswered Questions

 How can I retain the formatting from source excel document in word? Example: Excel
2010 cell is formatted as "currency" with data $20.00. During mailmerge the $20.00 is
shown as 20.

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 When I click Finish and Merge for email nothing happens?

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 Why do numeric fields only show one decimal although the source shows 2?

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 Features of mail merge?

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 I am selecting Avery from 5160 which is 3 column label form. The Mail Merge keeps
showing a 4 column label form. Why is this happening?

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