Word: Mail Merge — Creating Personalized Letters, Labels, and Envelopes

Mail Merge lets you create hundreds of personalized letters, envelopes, or labels using a Word template and a list of names and addresses (usually from Excel). Here's how to do it. What you need: - A Word document (the template — with merge fields where personalized info goes) - A data source — usually an Excel spreadsheet with columns like First Name, Last Name, Address, City, State, Zip Step 1: Prepare your Excel data In Excel, make sure: - Row 1 has headers (First Name, Last Name, Address, etc.) - No blank rows in the middle of the data - All addresses are in consistent format Save and close the file. Step 2: Start the Mail Merge in Word Open Word and start a new blank document (or open your letter template). Go to Mailings > Start Mail Merge, then choose: - Letters (for personalized letters) - Envelopes (for printing directly on envelopes) - Labels (for Avery or similar label sheets) Step 3: Select your data source Mailings > Select Recipients > Use an Existing List Browse to and select your Excel file. Choose the correct sheet when prompted. Step 4: Insert merge fields into your document Place your cursor where personalized info should go (e.g. after "Dear "). Click Mailings > Insert Merge Field and select the field (e.g. First_Name). You'll see <<First_Name>> appear in the document — that's the placeholder. Example letter opening: Dear <<First_Name>> <<Last_Name>>, Step 5: Preview results Click Mailings > Preview Results to see how the first letter will look with real data. Use the arrows to flip through each record. Step 6: Finish and print or save Mailings > Finish & Merge, then: - Edit Individual Documents: Creates a new document with all letters as separate pages — review before printing - Print Documents: Sends directly to the printer - Send Email Messages: Sends as individual emails (requires email column in your data) For labels: After selecting Labels, choose your label brand and product number (e.g. Avery 5160). Then follow the same steps — insert address fields using the address block or individual fields. Tip: Save your mail merge template document. Next time you need to run the same merge, just open it, re-link the data source, and you're done.