Microsoft Office Word 2007: Mail Merge

Transcription

1 Mailings Ribbon Type single envelopes and/or labels (not mail merge) Mail Merge: Buttons reproduce the functions of the old Mail Merge wizard Click here and choose bottom menu choice to open Office 2003-style Mail Merge wizard About Data Sources Data sources store sets of information called records (ex: a particular person s address) which are divided into categories called fields (ex: city, state and zip are three fields). They are usually arranged as tables. Data sources for mail merge include Microsoft Word tables, Excel spreadsheets, Outlook contacts lists, Access database tables, HTML tables (web pages) Type a Data Source in Microsoft Word 1. Create a new Microsoft Word document. 2. Insert a table with as many columns as you want fields (categories). 3. Put descriptive field names in the first row of the table (ex: First Name) 4. Type data using tabs to move between fields, one recipient per row 5. Save when done. Important: Do not leave any completely blank rows or columns in the data source! Create a form letter 1. Type the skeleton (the basic text that will be the same for all merged documents). Save the document if desired. 2. Click the Mailings tab to view the Mailings Ribbon. 3. Working with the buttons in the Start Mail Merge group, a. First, click the Start Mail Merge button and choose Letters from the list. b. Second, click the Select Recipients button and choose Use Existing List. A browsing box will open; navigate to locate your list and double click it. c. Optional: Click the Edit Recipient List button to verify that you have the desired letter recipients. From this box you can sort and filter your list, or exclude individual recipients by unchecking their check boxes. Page 1 of 5

2 4. Click the place in the letter where you want the Address Block (recipients name and address) to appear, then click the Address Block button in the Write and Insert Fields group. A box labeled Insert Address Block will appear. a. Choose options to display your recipient s address the way you want, checking the Preview window to be sure you are getting the results you expect. b. If necessary, click the Match Fields button to be sure Word has figured out which fields in your data source have which pieces of information. (This can also be done by clicking the Match Fields 5. Click the place in the letter where you want the greeting/salutation to appear, then click the Greeting Line button in the Write and Insert Fields group. Choose options to display your recipient s address the way you want; choose a greeting phrase; select a greeting for people you don t have a name for. 6. Individual merge fields can be added using the Insert Merge Fields button in the Write and Insert Fields group. 7. Click the Preview Results button in the Preview Results group. The field names will be replaced with data from the first record in your data source. Scroll between records using the navigation bar in the Page 2 of 5

3 Preview Results group: Examine enough records to be sure the merge is doing what you want. 8. In the Finish group, click the Finish and Merge button. From the list, select Edit Individual Letters to customize letters for particular recipients, or Print Documents to print them all alike. 9. Save the document if you will be using it again. Type a data source on the fly after starting the Mail Merge process 1. In step 3b above, click Type a new list. 2. Word generates a table containing a standard set of fields: 3. Click the Customize Columns button to add new fields or remove unnecessary ones. Type in the address data, pressing Tab or Enter to move from field to field, and on to the next record. 4. When done, click OK and follow the prompts to save the address list. (Word actually saves the data as a Microsoft Access database.) Continue the Mail Merge process as above. Mail Merge using an existing Main/Starting document Open the main document. A box will appear, telling you that an SQL statement will be run: Click Yes. Click the Mailings Ribbon tab. Modify the document if desired, preview to check your results, and finish and merge as above. Create mailing labels 1. With a blank document in the active window, click the Mailings Ribbon tab. Page 3 of 5

4 2. Click the Start Mail Merge button in the Start Mail Merge group and choose Labels from the list. A Label Options box appears; select your label from the list and click OK. Your document should now be covered with a grid of table cells in the size and arrangement of the labels you will use. 3. Click the Select Recipients button to choose a list as above; edit recipients if desired. Once you have selected a list, the command «Next Record» will appear in each label except the first. 4. Insert an Address Block into the first label, matching fields if necessary. 5. Click the Update Labels button in the Write & Insert Fields group. Each label will now have an Address Block placeholder. 6. Click the Preview Results button. You will see the first page of your labels; check to make sure they look right. A lot of people print this page. Don t. If you print this page you will get only one page of labels even if you have more than a page worth of recipients. 7. If you need to correct your labels, click Preview Results again, delete the contents of the first cell, correct them, and click Update Labels again. 8. In the Finish group, click the Finish and Merge button as before. From the list, select Edit Individual Documents to create a set of labels to proofread and print. Quick Sort (sort merge documents into a particular order - ex: by zip code for mass mailings) 1. At any point once you have selected a data source, click the Edit Recipient List button in the Start Mail Merge group. 2. Click any field name to sort by that field. Advanced (multi-level) Sort 1. Click the Edit Recipient List button in the Start Mail Merge group. 2. Click the drop-down arrow beside any field name, and click Advanced at the bottom of the list. The Filter and Sort box will appear. Click the Sort tab. Page 4 of 5

5 3. Click the drop-down arrow beside the Sort By box and select the main sort field. In the Then By box, select a secondary sort field, and a third level if desired in the lowest box. 4. Click OK. The list will be sorted by the first field; entries where the first field matches will be sorted by the second field, and records with both matching will be sorted by the third field. Filter (only create letters/labels for records that meet certain criteria) 1. Click the Edit Recipient List button in the Start Mail Merge group. 2. Click the drop-down arrow beside any field name, and click Advanced at the bottom of the list. The Filter and Sort box will appear. Click the Filter tab. 3. In the Field box, select the field you want to filter by. 4. Choose your Comparison. The default comparison is Equal To. 5. Type the text you want to match in the Compare To box. If you used the Equal To comparison, only records whose filter field matches what you enter here will be displayed. 6. You can use multiple criteria. On the left side of the box use And to narrow your results: both conditions must be true for the record to be displayed. Use Or to widen your results: if either the first or the second condition is met, the record will be displayed. 7. Click OK. Proceed as usual; when you merge you will get only records meeting your criteria. Page 5 of 5