How To Create Mail Merge In Excel 2007

Mail Merge Overview

To perform a mail merge you need a letter that will be sent out to different recipients and you need a list of those recipients. The list of recipients is created in Excel, whilst the letter and merge are created in Word. Mail merges are a real time saver if you plan to send out a series of letters to the same people, as you only need to prepare the recipient list once. It saves you having to type out each letter with each person's details each time, as the mail merge inserts that person's details in places that you indicate. Excel is just one program that you can use to handle your recipients; you can also use Microsoft Access.

Create The Recipient List In Excel

Create a list in Excel of people who are to receive your letter. Make sure that no rows are missing, so that the data is continuous. Here is a sample of a worksheet you could use to hold those personal details.

Maile Merge Recipients In Excel

As far as the mail merge goes, Excel's work is done. We must now create a letter in Microsoft Word and merge it with the Excel spreadsheet.

Create The Maile Merge Letter In Word

The next step is to tell Word who should receive our letter. We're going to use the Mail Merge Wizard in Word to do this, so click Mailings > Start Mail Merge > Start Mail Merge > Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard. Ensure that Letters is selected on teh right and click Next: Starting document. Leave Use the current document selected (we will create the letter in this document later) and then click Next: Select recipients. Select Use an existing list is selected and click browse. Navigate to where the recipient Excel spreadsheet is, select it and then in the Select Table dialogue box select the worksheet that contains the address details.

Maile Merge Recipients In Excel

If you used column headings in the Excel spreadsheet, ensure that the First row of data contains column headings is selected, otherwise deselect it. Click OK. The Mail Merge Recipients dialogue box is then presented.

Mail Merge Recipients List

If there are any addresses you don't want to mail, then deselect them in the Mail Merge Recipients dialogue box. Clicdk OK and then click Next: Write your letter to start composing the letter you will mail out. Write the letter, leaving gaps where you will later insert personal information. For example, you would leave a gap after "Dear" at the start of the letter. Once the letter is finished, position the cursor in one of the gaps left for recipient information and click More Items on the right. Ensure that Database Fields is selected and select the piece of information you need from the list.

Mail Merge - Insert Database Fields

On clicking Insert, that piece of personal data is inserted into the document where the cursor is positioned. When you have added all the personal information, click Next: Preview your letters. Here is your chance to review the letter you have just created, complete with sample personal information from the first recipient. If you need to make any adjustments to the letter, click Previous: Write your letter, and if not click Next: Complete the merge.

Now it's time to print the merged letters, so click Print. When the Merge to Printer dialogue box is presented, you can choose which recipients to print.

Mail Merge - Insert Database Fields