Mail Merge Tutorial for Form Letters

For use with Word 2000 and Excel

Step 1: Preparing for the Mail Merge Process

Download the contact data.
Open the downloaded data in Excel and scan through the fields you will be using. This would also be the best time to modify the list by adding or removing contacts. Select Save As from the File menu, give your modified list a new name, and Save it. Close the document.
Prepare your form letter. Include any text and graphics (letterhead, etc.) you wish to incorporate into each version of the letter. DO NOT include the Inside Address or Salutation of the letter at this time.

TIP: If you are using a letter you've already prepared, Open the document, then Save As with a descriptive name. Then highlight the Inside Address and Salutation and delete them. Save your document again.

Step 2: Beginning the Mail Merge Process

If it isn't already open, Open the document you created and modified in Step 1:3 above.
Select Tools from the menu at the top of the window, then choose Mail Merge from the drop-down menu which will appear. Mail Merge Helper will pop up in front of your document.

Step 3: Using Mail Merge Helper

Begin by selecting the Create button. From the resulting drop-down menu, choose Form Letters. A small window will pop up with the choices of using the active document window (the one you just opened) or creating a new document. Select Active Window to use the document you already have open.
Next, select the Get Data button and choose Open Data Source from the menu. In the Open Data Source window, either type in the name of your data file or locate it using the file hierarchy shown in the window. If you are searching for the file, be sure that the Files of type option at the bottom of the window has All Files selected. If it shows a different selection, click on the triangle to the right of the field to scroll through until you find All Files.
Open the data document.
A window will pop up which says, "Word found no merge fields in your main document. Choose the Edit Main Document button to insert merge fields into your main document." Click on the Edit Main Document button.

Step 4: Placing the Merge Fields in your Form Letter

TIP: You can move your cursor about in your letter as you normally would...use your mouse to click where you want it to go, enter spaces between fields, or use your Enter key to begin a new line.

Place the cursor where you want the first merge field to appear in your document. In this case, it would be the location of the Inside Address.
CLICK the Insert Merge Field button from the Mail Merge Toolbar above your document. Select the appropriate field from the drop-down menu.

TIP: If you do not see the Mail Merge Toolbar, select View from the menu at the top of the screen,
then choose Toolbars from that drop-down menu. In the Toolbars menu, check the box in front of Mail Merge.

Repeat step 4:2 until you have completed the Inside Address section of your letter. Be sure to include spaces, new lines and proper punctuation between the fields you insert.

TIP: You can see how the actual data will appear in your letter by clicking the View Merged Data button from the Mail Merge Toolbar. (It's the button with the ABC with double brackets above it.) It's a good idea to do this sometime before you begin printing. You can scan through the records to look for inconsistencies by using the Previous and Next arrows to the right of the View Merged Data button.

Move your cursor to the location for the Salutation of your letter. Type the word "Dear" and a space, then use the same process to enter the salutation fields (probably Salutation and Last Name). Add a colon after the last field.

NOTE: If your data source (in this case your Excel document) is missing information in a field which is incorporated in a line with spaces in it, there will be a gap in the printed document. e.g., if a record in your data source has nothing listed in the Salutation field, and your merge fields look like this:

   <<Salutation>> <<FirstName>> <<MI>> <<LastName>>
   <<Title>>

your document will look like this:

     Samuel P. Sage
   President

This is an issue ONLY in horizontal spacing when a field is blank. WORD WILL AUTOMATICALLY SUPPRESS BLANK LINES in addresses.

Step 5: Merging the Data

Inspect your document. Print a sample letter by choosing Print from the File menu just as you usually do. (Be sure you have toggled the View Merged Data button to show the actual data.) Only the document containing the record shown on your screen will print.
Make any changes or corrections needed to your main document and/or data source, then Save again.
You now have two options.
1. You can simply print the form letters by clicking the Merge to Printer button from the Mail Merge Toolbar. (It's the little button with papers above an arrow pointing to a printer. Hovering your cursor over it for a moment will most likely cause a description to appear below it showing the name of the button.)
  In the Print window which will open, select any print options which you may not have previously set and Print as usual. One letter will print for each record in your data source.
2. You can create a new document which contains copies of every letter you are going to print, including the merged data. This method provides a convenient archive of your mailing. To do this, click the Merge to New Document button from the Mail Merge Toolbar. (It's the little button with papers above an arrow pointing to a larger paper.) A new window, entitled FormLetters1 will pop up in front of your document. Choose Save from the File menu, choose a descriptive name for the file, and Save. Then Print as usual.

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