Mail Merge

Mailings Tab

Screenshot of the Mailings window in Microsoft Word. Across the top there is a tab with text that reads Mailings. Below that are a series of options. There are five sections. The first section has Envelopes (with an envelope icon) and Labels (with an envelope icon and a white doucment with two rectangles on it). Below both is text that says Create. There is a vertical black line to the right of this. To the righ tof the line, there are three icons with text. The first is Start Mail Merge with a black triangle pointing down (with an icon with a envelope and two white word document icons); Select Recipients with a black triangle pointing down (with an icon that has a table with rows and columns as well as two silhouettes of people); Edit Recipent List (with a grayed out icon of a silhouette of a person and a table with a pencil). Below all three of these text and icons is text that says Start Mail Merge. To the right is a black vertical line. To the right of the line, the rest of the elements in the sections are grayed out. The first item in the next section is Highlight Merge Fields (with a document icon with small rectangle boxes); Address Book (with a white document icon with a gray bar at the top left); Greeting Line (with a white document with a gray bar on the left side of the page); Insert Merge Field with a triangle pointing down (with a white document icon with six squares on it). To the right of that are three vertical options. They are Rules with a triangle pointing down (with a white document with a question mark icon on it). Below that is Match Fields (with two document icons and arrows pointing between them; and Update Labels (with a white document with two arrows on it. To the right of that is a vertical line. To the right of the line is Preview Results (with a search field box and a magnifying glass on it). To the right of that, there is a line that goes halfway down the screen. To the right of that there are three vertical options. The first is a field box that has a thin vertical line with a triangle and a triangle pointing left on the left side. To the right side there is a triangle pointing right and a triangle pointing right with a thin vertical line. Below all of that, there is text that reads Find Recipient (with an icon that has a table and a magnifying glass). Below that is Auto Check for Errors (with a document icon and a checkmark). Below the Preview Results section and this section, there is text that reads Preview Results. To the right of this, there is a vertical line. To the right of the vertical line there is text that says Finish & Merge (with an icon that has two overlapping document icons, a printer icon, an envelope icon, and an arrow icon. Below the menu options, there are four pieces of text with arrows. The first is Create Group that points to the first section. The next is Start Group which points to the second section. The third is Fields Group which points to the third section. The fourth is Preview Group and points to the fourth section.

Get Started

From within the Start Mail Merge group, click on the Start Mail Merge button and select the Mail Merge Wizard. There are six key steps to creating a merged document in Word:

Step 1: Select Document type; letters, e-mail messages, envelopes, or labels and click on Next.

Step 2: Select different options to create letters; use current, template, or existing document

Step 3: Select Recipients; existing list, Outlook contacts, or type new list and click on Next.

Step 4: Write your letter; address block, greeting line, or more items and click on Next.

Step 5: Preview your letters; review merged letters or exclude recipients and click on Next.

Step 6: Complete the merge; print or edit individual letters.

Screenshot of six menu options for Mail Merge. The screenshots take you through the choices needed. In the first screenshot, Use the current document is selected. In the second screenshot, Letters is selected. In the second screenshot, Use an existing list is selected. In the fourth screenshot, there is information about address book, greeting line, and electronic postage. In the fifth screenshot, there are options to preview the letter. In the sixth screenshot, there are print and edit options. All of the menus have a dark gray header across the top with the text, Mail Merge. The rest of the menu has a light gray background.

Main Document

On the Mailings tab, within the Start Mail Merge group, click on Start Mail Merge button and select letters.

From the Mail Merge drop-down menu, you can use Mail Merge to create:

E-Mail Messages- same content in all messages, but each e-mail message goes to an individual recipient.
Envelopes-Unique destination address on each envelope while return address is the same for all envelopes.
Labels- name and address is on each label, but name and address is unique for each individual label created.
Directory- same kind of information; i.e., name and description but each name and description in each item is unique.

Create the main document (letter). Enter text, including formatting, and other elements needed.
Enter placeholders. Text you enter in ALL CAPS will be replaced during the mail merge process. The fill-in-the-blanks parts are known as fields. This will help you determine which and how many fields you will need in the document.
After finishing the letter, save it.

Screenshot of letter draft. At the top left, there is bolded text that says Example. In the top right, there is a date that reads July 18, 2021. Below that is an outline of a box with a black line. Inside the box is text that reads Dear FIRST LAST,. Below that box is another outlined box with black lines. In the box, there is text that says Welcome FIRST, we are glad that you have selected St. John Fishre College as place to begin your college education. We have scheduled you to move in on DATE. We look forward to seeing you in the fall.

Email Messages

From the Mailings tab, within the Start Mail Merge group, click on Step-by-Step Mail Merge Wizard button and select E-Mail Messages.
Select a starting document; use the current document, start from a template, and start from existing document. Click on Next to select recipients.

Use current document- start writing your message
Start from a template- click on Select template… a ready to use template can be tailored to your needs.
Start from existing document- click on Open to locate an existing document, make changes to content.

Screenshot of Mail Merge options. Across the top is a dark gray banner. In the top left there is text that says Mail Merge. In the top right, there is a black triangle pointing down and an "x" icon. Below that, there is bolded text that says Select starting document. There is a thin, black horizontal line below that. Below the line is text that reads How do you want to set up your E-Mail messages? Below that are three radio buttons. The first one is selected and the text says: Use the current document. The second option is Start from a template. The third option is Start from existing document. Below that is bolded text that says Use the current document. Below that is a thin, black horizontal line. Below the line, there is text that says Start from the document shown here and use the Mail Merge wizard to add recpient information.

3. Select from Outlook contacts and click on Choose Contacts Folder.

4. From the Select Contacts dialog box, click on the appropriate choice and click on OK.

Screenshot of Mail Merge options. Across the top, there is a dark gray banner. In the top left there is text that says Mail Merge. In the top right, there is a black triangle pointing down and an "x" icon. Below that, there is bolded text that reads Select recipients. There is a thin, black horizontal line below that. There are three radio buttons below the line. The first is Use an existing list. The second (which is selected) is Select from Outlook contacts. The third is Type a new list. Below that is bolded text that reads Select from Outlook contacts. Below that is a thin, black horizontal line. Below that is text that says Select names and addresses from an Outlook contacts folder. Below that is a white rectangle with an outline of a person in the left side and three horizontal lines on the right side. To the right of that icon, there is blue text that says Choose Contacts Folder. Below that, there is a grayed out icon and text. The icon is a table with horizontal and vertical lines and a pencil icon on top of it. To the right, there is text that says Edit recipient list...

5. From the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box, from the list of recipients use options to add or change the list and click on OK.

Screenshot of Mail Merge Recipients options. There is a white header bar across the top. In the top left, there is text that says Mail Merge Recipients. In the top right, there are two boxes. The first has a white question mark icon and the second has an "x" icon. Below that is a gray background. There is text that says This is the list of recipients that will be used in your merge. Use the options below to add to or change your list. Use the checkboxes to add or remove recipients from the merge. When your list is ready, click OK. Below that is a table. Across the top, there are header columns with a gray background and a thin black line around the. The headers are Data Source, a checkmark box with a check in it, First (with a black triangle pointing down), Title (with a black triangle pointing down), Company (with a black triangle pointing down), and Address. To the right of the table, there is a scrolling bar with an arrow pointing up at the top, a thin bar, and a an arrow pointing down at the bottom. The bar is all the way up to the top. In the table, the first row reads: Contacts, checkmark in checkbox, Lloyd. The second row reads Contacts, checkmark in checkbox, Wingate, Larry; The third row is Contacts, checkmark in checkbox, Winery, Belhurst, empty, 4069 State Route. The next row is Contacts, checkmark in checkbox, Wineries &..., Three, empty, 623 Lerch Road. The next row is Contacts, checkmark in checkbox, Weston, Carol. The next row is Contacts, checkmark in checkbox, Vitello, Kristin, OfficeMax, 1999 Mt. Read Bl. The next row is Contacts, checkmark in checkbox, Vineyards, Fox, empty, 670 State Route. The next row is Contacts, checkmark in checkbox, Van Horn, Paul, SCSD. Below the items in the table, there is a horizontal scroll bar with an arrow pointing left in the bottom left and an arrow pointing right in the bottom right. There is a bar scrolled all the way to the left. Below the table is text that reads Data Source with a horizontal line. Below that is a white box with text in it that says Contacts. There is a vertical scroll bar in the right side of the white box. Below the box, there are two gray boxes. They say Edit... and Refresh. To the right of that, there is text that reads Refine recipient list. There is a horizontal line to the right of that text. Below are five icons and text. The text is blue and underlined. The first is Sort... (with an icon that has a blue "A" and a red "Z" as well as a black arrow pointing down); Filter... (with a table icon and a funnel on top of it); Find duplicates (with two overlapping boxes and a red "x" on top of it); Find recipients.. (with a table document and a magnifying glass); Validate addresses... (with a table icon and a blue checkmark icon). Below that, there is a gray button with a a blue outline that says OK.

6. Write your letter if you haven’t already done so and add information to your letter. Click within your document to add one of the items to your message and click on Next.

Address block
Greeting line
Electronic postage—this option is an add-on available from Microsoft. Not installed by default.
More items

Screenshot of the Mail Merge options. Across the top is a dark gray, thin line. The words across the top say Mail Merge. To the right, there is a carrot icon pointing down and a black x. Below that, there is a light gray background. There is text that says Write your e-mail message (in bold). Below that is a black horizontal line. Below that is body text that reads: If you have not already done so, write your email message now. To add recipient information to you rmessage, click a location in the message, and then click one of the items below... Below that there are four options. They are Address book... (with a page icon with red lines at the top), Greeting line... (with a page icon and red lines in the middle), Electronic postage... (with an envelope icon), and More items... (with a spreadsheet icon). Below all of that is text that says, When you have finished writing your message, click Next. Then you can preview and personalize each recipient's message.

7. Preview your letters using the arrows to view each message and click on Next.

8. Complete the merge:

Click on print or edit individual letters if changes need to be made to messages.
Using the Mail Merge Wizard, click on Electronic Mail or from the Mailings tab, within the Finish group, click on the Finish & Merge button and select Send E-mail Messages.
From the Merge to E-mail dialog box, add a subject line and click on OK to send messages.

Screenshot of Mail Merge options. To the left, there is a dark gray sidebar. At the top, there is blue text that says Mail Merge. To the right of that, there is a black triangle pointing down and an "x." Below that there is bolded text that says Complete the merge. There is a thin, black line underneath it. Below that, there is text that says Mail Merge is ready to produce your letters. There is then a line break. Below the line break, the text reads To personalize your letters, click "Edit Individual Letters." This will open a new document with your merged letters. To make changes to all the letters, switch back to the original document. Below that, there is bolded text that reads Merge and a thin black line underneath. Below the line, there are two options. The first is Print... (with a document icon and a printer icon) and Edit Individual letters (a document icon with horizontal lines on it and a white document with a blue arrow). Both pieces of text are in blue. To the right of the sidebar, there is a dialog box. There is a white banner at the top. There is text that reads Merge to E-mail in the top left. In the top right, there are two outlined boxes. The first has a question mark icon and the second has an "X" icon. Below that, there is a gray background. There is text that reads Message options. To the right, there is a thin, black horizontal line. Below that, there is text that reads To:. To the right of that, there is a dropdown field with text that reads Email_Address. Below that, there is text that reads Subject line:. To the right, there is a white empty field box. Below that, there is text that says Mail format:. To the right of that is a dropdown field with text that reads HTML. Below this, there is text that says Send records and a thin, black horizontal line. Below there are three radio buttons: All (selected); Current record; From: (with a white field box) To: (with a white field box). Below that, there are two buttons: OK (outlined in blue) and Cancel.

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