Mail Merge for Letters

If you are familiar with the Mail Merge in Office 2003, you will have no problems using the Mail Merge feature in Office 2007 / 2010. Yes, the Wizard of Office 2003 is still available.

Open the Mail Merge form letter if there is one available.

Click Mailings tab on the Word Ribbon

Notice that the Mail Merge function has its own ribbon. Only the first two buttons will display. After you select the recipients, the following icon will display, etc. This is still a step by step process; however, it is faster for the experienced user.

If you want to use the Wizard, Click Start Mail Merge button
Select Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard
Click Wizard to follow the tutorial for Office 2003

If you want to use the new Mailings Interface continue here using the new options and icons:

Select the format: for the purposes of this tutorial, we will select Letters



Click Use Existing List ...  go to the p or c drive to find the file that contains the information, highlight and click Open.



Click Edit Recipient List and your database will open. This list is the same as Office 2003

Look through the list, if you do not want some of the names to appear on the merge, remove the check box and the merge will skip these records.

There are new options: Sort, filter, etc. Validate addresses does not work without downloading a validation program.
OK

Click Address Block Icon

The following dialogue box will display. Notice there are many new features to make the mail merge easier.

 If you have international students, click Insert postal address:
New feature: Format address according to the destination country/region.
On the right hand side of the screen you will see the Address Block as it appears in your database.
Here you can click the right arrow and preview the addresses and related information.

If for some reason an important field is missing, click the Match Fields button and match your data to the correct field.

If you are going to save this mail merge, click the box Remember this matching for this set of data sources on this computer. The next time you open this mail merge the fields are automatically saved.
OK

Click Greeting Line Icon



The following dialogue box will display.

Select the Greeting line Format.
Select a Greeting line for invalid recipient names:
Again there is the preview Greeting Line box where you can scan the greetings.
If the names do not appear, click the Match Fields and select from the list. See above sample.
OK

Click Insert Merge Fields Icon

The following dialogue box will display.

This function is used to personalize a letter. Place the cursor where you want to include the personalized name and then click the matching field from the list. In the following sample the ContactName was selected. Click Match Fields button to make sure that is the correct field name. Click Insert. Notice the following merge field is added to the body of the letter.

Insert as many personalized fields as your letter requires. When you are finished click RED X button to close the dialogue box.

Click the Preview Results Icon

You have buttons to Preview Results of the merge.
If you are looking for a specific recipient click Find Recipient
A dialog box will open / Select to suit your needs

Another great feature is the Auto Check for Errors
Dialog box will open with options / Select to suit your needs

Click the Finish Icon

Select Print Documents ...
Print all or Select a range from the options

Created:  July 05, 2012

Sr. Arlene Callahan
Training Manager
Rivier University
Nashua, NH 03060

E-mail: acallahan@rivier.edu