Understanding Mail Merge

The mail merge process combines the static information from one document with variable information from another document, as follows:

• Main document. This is a document, such as a letter or e-mail message, that contains the static text that will appear in all the merged documents, plus placeholderscalled merge fieldsthat tell Word where to insert the variable information.

• Data source. This is a structured document, such as customer list stored in a Word table, a Microsoft Office Excel worksheet, or a Microsoft Office Access database table, or a Microsoft Office Outlook contacts list, that contains setscalled recordsof information in a predictable format. You can use an existing data source, or you can create a new one as part of the mail merge process.

You can use the Mail Merge wizard in Word to merge a main document with a data source in easy steps. The first step is to select from a list of document types that includes letters, e-mail messages, envelopes, labels, and a directory. The type you select determines the subsequent steps. The end result is one copy of the merged document for every record in the data source.

You can merge the main document and data source into a new document, with each merged document separated from the next by a page break. You can then personalize the merged documents before printing, and you can save the document for later use. If you don't need to edit or save the merged documents, you can merge the main document and data source directly to the printer or to an e-mail message.

Tip

When you have some experience with mail merge, you might want to use the buttons on the Mailings tab to create and merge documents, instead of the Mail Merge wizard.