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 shouldbe 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 MailMerge
. 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 Excelspreadsheet 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 uncheckboxes as appropriate to include (check) or not include (not check) members of your list. When youare 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 SQLcommand.
5.
In the
Write and In Fields
are of the ribbon, locate the button for
Insert Merge Field
. Clicking thebottom 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 alsohighlight 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 inthe
Preview Results
area of the ribbon. You can make changes to the content of the letter in thesescreens; however, do not make changes to field data. If you find you need to change something inthe 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 5finished 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 aregiven 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 cansend this “letter” as an email message. You must first choose the column that contains the email
File Under:
Project 9 – Excel/Word Mail Merge
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