COURSES: How to create Mail merge in MS Word?

Thursday, June 25, 2020

How to create Mail merge in MS Word?

What Is Mail Merge?

Mail Merge is a very useful feature of Microsoft Word. It helps you to quickly produce a personalized letter for each and every person in your mailing list.

Suppose your Company has a number of book dealers to whom you often send business letters. But typing the same letter for different dealers becomes a very tedious job. However, this job is no more tedious as your computer has a solution for this. The solution for this lies in a unique and extremely useful feature of Microsoft Word Called Mail Merge. Using this feature, you can quickly create personalized letters for each and every dealer in your Mailing List.

In During the Mail Merge process, the main Document is combined or merged with the document containing the Data. Microsoft Word replaces special instructions in the Main Document with the data from other Documents.

Let us now work with Mail Merge and find out how it is created and executed.

In a Mail Merge, the addresses of all Your Dealers are stored in one document, and the format of the letter to be sent to them is saved in another document. Special Instructions are to be sent to them is saved in another document. Special instructions are to be given in the letter format to indicate to Microsoft Word as to where the addresses have to be inserted. When both of these documents are mail merged, individual addresses from the first document replace the special instructions given in the letter

To work in a Mail Merge , you need two files namely:

Data Source: The file that contains the names and other information is reffered to as the Data Source (mailing list).
Main Document: The file that contains the fomat of letter to be sent simultaneously to many people is refffered to as Main Document. This document contains special instructions for the data to be inserted from the Data Source.

Let us now understand the three basic steps required to create a Mail Merge:

Creating the Data source;
Setting up the Main Document
Merging or combining the main document and the Data Source

CREATING A MAIL MERGE DOCUMENT

To start the Mail Merge you First need to open the MS Word
Then go to the Mailing Tab
Then You have to click on the Start Mail Merge

A pop-up menu shown> you have to click on Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard….
Then on the Right side a Mail Merge Task Pane opens

Click on Starting Document (stated on the bottom of the Mail Merge Task Pane)
Then click on the Select Recipients (stated on the bottom of the Mail Merge Task Pane)
Then option shows:

-Use an Existing List
-Select from Outlook Contacts
-Type a new List

If you have the Existing Lists then you must go through that, but if you don’t have an existing list, Then Select Type a New List.
If you are typing a new list than Click on Create
And if you are using an existing one then choose use an Existing list and click on browse.....

A dialog box (shown below) display on the screen .

Fill appropriate columns on that list. For e.g.- Name, Address, Contact Number, Office Address, State, City, Country/Region, E-mail Address etc.
Then click on OK, and save your List.
Then Click on Write your Letter > and type the required Letter.
Then click on More Items…… > A dialog Box will appear named Insert Merge Fields > Insert the required Merge Fields in your Document (letter). For Example: You want to Insert ‘Title’ in the document click on Take the curser where you want to Insert Title > More Items…… > Insert Merge Fields dialog box will open > Click on the Title > Then Click Insert> Title will insert in your where the cursor is situated

Click on Preview Your Letter

Then click Complete the Merge
Then Click Edit Individual Letters > than a Dialog Box Appears named Merge to New Document >Select the option All > and Click OK