W200 Using Computers in Education

Microsoft Word/Excel Mail Merge Step-by-Step

Here are instructions to help you through this process. Your Excel spreadsheet should
be complete and data ready to be merged into a Microsoft Word document (or Publisher
product).

1. Launch MS Word and open the letter file into which you’ll merge the information.

2. Start the Mail Merge Process by clicking the Mailings tab in the ribbon and then click Start Mail
Merge. Choose Letters.

3. Click Select Recipients from the ribbon and choose Use Existing List.

a. Now you’ll connect your Excel spreadsheet to the Mail Merge Wizard. Navigate to your Excel
spreadsheet wherever it may be stored, then click Open.

b. You’ll be asked which “sheet” you want to use; you likely have typed your data into Sheet 1.

4. Click Edit Recipient List from the ribbon. In this dialog box, you are be able to check or uncheck
boxes as appropriate to include (check) or not include (not check) members of your list. When you
are finished, click OK.
Note: you can’t edit items in your list here. To do that, save your Word document and close it. Then re-open your Excel
spreadsheet and make changes, save, and close. Then re-open your Word document and say “Yes” to running the SQL
command.

5. In the Write and In Fields are of the ribbon, locate the button for Insert Merge Field. Clicking the
bottom half of that button gives you a drop down menu with each of the columns from your
spreadsheet. To insert a merge field, place the cursor where the merged data is to appear, click the
Insert Merge Field button and choose the data type you want to appear at that point. You can also
highlight existing text and, following the same process, replace that text with a merge field.

6. Once your letter is completed and all merge fields are included as appropriate, click Preview Results
in the Preview Results area of the ribbon.

7. Check the letter carefully for spacing where fields are inserting information; check spelling, grammar,
and mechanics carefully as well. You can check each letter separately using the navigation system in
the Preview Results area of the ribbon. You can make changes to the content of the letter in these
screens; however, do not make changes to field data. If you find you need to change something in
the data list, follow the instructions in the Note attached to step 4 above.

8. Click Finish & Merge in the Finish area of the ribbon. You are given 3 choices; here are descriptions,
but you’ll want to select Edit Individual Documents so you can create a single PDF file of the 5
finished letters.

a. Edit Individual Documents: opens a new MS Word file where you can edit any part of the letter
including the field data or add additional text to individual letters.

b. Print Documents: sends the individual documents immediately to your default printer. You are
given the option of sending only a part of the job (helpful when printing a large number of items).
You are also given the standard print dialog box so you can make changes to printing options.

c. Send E-mail Messages: If your spreadsheet includes a column of email addresses, you can
send this “letter” as an email message. You must first choose the column that contains the email

File Under: Project 9 – Excel/Word Mail Merge

address from the drop-down box labeled “To:”. You should also supply a subject line.
NOTE: this ONLY works if you have MS Outlook or MS Outlook Express configured! If you do not use MS
Outlook or MS Outlook Express, do NOT try to send email (headaches guaranteed!).