When you need to print letters or send emails to many clients or employees, you can do it quickly using mail merge. With the mail merge wizard in Microsoft Word, you can set this up in just minutes.
a mail merge allows you to compose the base of the message, insert the names and create all the letters at once. The great thing about Word’s mail merge wizard is that you can use an existing list or create one on the fly. you can also customize various parts of the letter and use the combination for labels or envelopes as well as emails and letters.
create a mail merge in word
With the popularity of sending business emails, rather than physical letters, let’s use an example of creating an email merge. open a microsoft word document and compose your message.
When you finish your message and are ready to create the merge, go to the mail tab. use the start mail merge dropdown arrow to select “step by step mail merge wizard”.
You will see an open sidebar on the right that will guide you through the mail merge process. check the emails option at the top and click “next: initial document” at the bottom.
then choose the option to use the current document. if you want to start over with a template or from a different document, choose that option instead.
click “next: select recipients” at the bottom of the sidebar.
add recipients
You can now select your recipient list or create one with the following options.
related: how to create postal labels in word from an excel list
use an existing list – choose this option and click “browse” to locate your file. When it opens in Word, you’ll see a box where you can refine your list if you want. sort, filter, find duplicates or validate addresses. you can also use the checkboxes to select and deselect recipients.
select from outlook contacts: check this option and click “choose contacts folder” to choose the folder. then you’ll see the contacts in that folder appear in a box like the one above, where you can refine your list.
Write a new list: Choose this option and then click “create” to enter the recipients’ details in the pop-up window. you can use any of the fields you want and customize the columns.
after selecting your recipients, click “next: write your email message” at the bottom of the sidebar.
complete your message
then you can choose from the blocks you see to add the recipient’s details to your message.
address block: Place the cursor in the document where you want the address block. then choose a format for recipient names, whether you want to include a business name or a mailing address, and other location details.
You’ll see a preview of each recipient on the right and you can use the arrows at the top to scroll through and review them. if something is missing, click “match fields” to fix it.
click “ok” when done. you will see the address block variable in your document at the location you selected.
greeting line: Place the cursor in the document where you want the greeting line. select a greeting and a format for the greeting line, as well as a default value for invalid recipient names. preview each one using the arrows and the box towards the bottom.
click “ok” when you’re done and you’ll see the greeting line variable in your document.
electronic postage: If you have electronic postage software installed on your computer, select this option and follow the prompts.
more elements – To add more fields, such as additional phone numbers or address lines, place your cursor in the document where you want the fields, choose this option, and fill in the details. click “insert” or “match fields” to finish.
To remove any of the elements you added, simply select the variable and remove it from the document.
select “next: preview your emails” at the bottom of the sidebar.
preview and send emails
then you will see a preview of the letter with the variables filled in with your recipient details. use the arrows in the sidebar to preview each message. To make changes to your recipients, select “edit recipient list” or to go back and edit the document, use the step links at the bottom of the sidebar.
when finished, click “next: complete the merge” and then select “email” to fill in the details of the email format, subject line and recipient. optionally, you can send only to certain recipients. click “ok” to send the emails through outlook.
other types of mail merge documents
if you choose a different type of mail merge in word, you will see only slight variations with the wizard.
letters and directory: You can add the same details as with emails, but at the end you can print or edit the individual letters or send the directory to a new document.
envelopes and labels: You can choose from different options, such as envelope size, label type, and font. then print your envelopes or labels.
You can create a mail merge in Microsoft Word from scratch for emails, letters, envelopes, or labels using the Mailings tab. but for the easiest way to set up a merge in word, check out the mail merge wizard.