What is Mail Merge? Mail Merge Mail merge is a process to create personalized letters and pre-addressed envelopes or mailing labels for mass mailings from a word processing document which contains fixed text, which will be the same in each output document, and variables, which act as placeholders that are replaced by text from the data source. Mail merge allows the user to create a set of documents that are fundamentally the same but contain some diverging elements. Why use Mail Merge? Creating each letter, message, fax, label, envelope, or coupon individually would take hours. That's where mail merge comes in. Mail merge allows you to create one document that contains the information that applicable to each version. Then you just add placeholders for the information that is unique to each version. Creating Mail Merge Documents 1. Find and select the mailing tab to display the mailings toolbar. 2. Select Start Mail Merge. 3. Scroll down the drop down menu. Last Updated 7/26/2012 Mail Merge Page 1 of 10
4. Select Step By Step Mail Merge Wizard. 5. Choose your document type from the list under the Select document type heading. 6. Click on Next: Starting document. Last Updated 7/26/2012 Mail Merge Page 2 of 10
7. Select an option under the Select starting document heading. 8. Click on Next: Select recipients at the bottom of the toolbar. 9. Select Type a new list from under the Select recipients heading. 10. Click the Create button under the Type a new list heading. Last Updated 7/26/2012 Mail Merge Page 3 of 10
11. A pop-up box entitled New Address List will appear. Fill in any the identifying information for your addressees. If you would like to customize the informational fields, click the Customize Columns button in the bottom left corner. A popup box will appear where you can customize your address list. Last Updated 7/26/2012 Mail Merge Page 4 of 10
12. A Save Address List dialog box will appear. Give a descriptive file name (for example, Mail Merge Recipients ). Then click Save. IMPORTANT NOTE: You can also import Excel Spreadsheets and Access Databases for recipient information. 13. Pick your recipients by checking the boxes to the left of their names. (Make sure you re selecting from the correct data source) Last Updated 7/26/2012 Mail Merge Page 5 of 10
14. Check to make sure that you have selected a list of recipients. In this example, the line [Office Address List] in Mail Merge (shown below) shows that we are using the file we saved earlier. 15. Click on Next: Write your letter. 16. Here, you can add an address block and greeting line using the recipient list. 17. Click on Address block Last Updated 7/26/2012 Mail Merge Page 6 of 10
18. In the Insert Address Block pop-up box, you can select different styles of displaying recipients contact information. Once you are satisfied, click OK. 19. Notice that <<AddressBlock>> has been added to the body of the document. Click on Greeting line under the Write your letter heading. 20. Customize your greeting line. Last Updated 7/26/2012 Mail Merge Page 7 of 10
21. Click OK when satisfied. 22. Notice that <<GreetingLine>> has also been added to the body of the document under <<AddressBlock>>.Click Next: Preview your letters. Here, you can preview what the document will look like when filled in. Last Updated 7/26/2012 Mail Merge Page 8 of 10
23. Click the << or >> buttons to change the recipient in the preview. 24. When you are finished previewing the document, click: Next: Complete the merge. 25. Click on Print in the right hand mail merge column. IMPORTANT NOTE: DO NOT use the File Print or Ctrl + P methods to print Last Updated 7/26/2012 Mail Merge Page 9 of 10
26. Choose which records to print. All will print all the letters; Current Record will print only the letter currently being displayed. Then click OK. Once you click OK, the print dialog will show up, and you can proceed to printing it like a normal document. Sources: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/ch010062628.aspx http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/use-mail-merge-to-create-and-print-letters-andother-documents-ha101857701.aspx Last Updated 7/26/2012 Mail Merge Page 10 of 10
Microsoft Word Templates What is a Template? A template is a document you create with pre-defined formatting information such as headers, enclosures, or logos. Creating Word templates enable the ability to bypass the initial setup and configuration time necessary to create standardized documents. Why use a Template? Templates provide an easy way to achieve consistency in your organization s documents (letters, envelopes, memos, etc.). By using a template, you can focus your time on the content of the document, rather than document formatting or appearance. Creating a Template 1. Create your document with the formatting you need. Be sure not to include any variable information! Only include information that can be placed on every document, regardless of recipient. Last Updated: 7/29/2012 Word Templates Page 1 of 5
2. Click the File button in the top left 3. Scroll down the File menu and click on Save As 4. Select the.dotx file type and click Save 5. Save your template file with a descriptive name. Last Updated: 7/29/2012 Word Templates Page 2 of 5
Important Notes about Naming Files A file name should have importance. Naming files like Document1.docx and Template1.dotx is NOT a good practice. Our example template file could be named Templates_Letter because it is a template for a letter. Using meaningful names is important because when you have multiple files, it will be much easier to sort through them and find the file you need later on. See Naming Files and Folders topic for more information. Last Updated: 7/29/2012 Word Templates Page 3 of 5
Using a Template to Create a Letter 1. Locate and double-click the Templates_Letter.dotx file that you saved in order to open it. Whenever the template (the.dotx file) is opened, notice that the file is opened as Document 1 and not the template file name you saved it under. When you open a template file (.dotx), it opens a copy of the document, and not the template itself. Every time you create a new file from your template, it is a brand new file, with the formatting and generic information already in place, ready for you to modify as needed. 2. Edit the template-based document as needed. Any changes made to Document 1 will not affect the template you created. Last Updated: 7/29/2012 Word Templates Page 4 of 5
3. Save your document with a descriptive name. When you save the file, both the document and template are still intact. The template can be used over and over again, saving the user time by eliminating the formatting steps. Last Updated: 7/29/2012 Word Templates Page 5 of 5