Mail Time...

Mail merge is a feature that combines a document with information that personalizes it.  For example, a letter might be sent to each student in Microsoft Office this semester.  In each letter, the text is the same, but the names of the recipients are different.  For example, a letter may begin Dear Mr. Johnson or Dear Jennifer.  The document with the information that does not change is called the main document.  The data source is the file containing the information that varies in each document such as the names of the recipients.  For this project, we are going to modify a main document, create a data source, and then merge these files.  Can you think of some situations where this might be beneficial?

1. Open the Customers.docx data file from above. This file contains a table with a list of names and addresses that we are going to use as our source of data for the merge. Notice that each person’s title, first name, and last name are in separate columns.
2. Add a row to this table and include your name and address.
3. Save this file as Customers Data Source.docx in your directory for use later on.
4. Close this file.
5. Open the Main Document Letter.docx from above. This file contains the body of the letter that will be personalized for the potential customers in the data source file. In order to assist with this mail merge feature, we will use the Mail Merge Wizard.
6. Before beginning the Mail Merge, add a “Draft” watermark to the letter. Save.
7. Open the Mail Merge Wizard. Mailings Tab > Start Mail Merge Group > Start Mail Merge Icon > Step-by-Step Mail Merge Wizard
8. Notice the Mail Merge Wizard that is now open on the right side of your viewing screen. This will guide us through step-by-step! The first task to do tell it what sort of merge we want to do. We want Letters. Next, you need to tell Word what document you want to start with. Since you already have a letter written, use the existing document. Next, you will select the recipients of this letter (those that are going to receive this letter). We will use the Customers Data Source document from above. Select Use an Existing List > Browse to Find > OK
9. The next step is to write the letter, which we already have done. However, we are now ready to add recipient information to our letter to personalize it. Select the line in the letter that reads Address and delete the text that is there. On that same line, we are going to have the address inserted for us automatically from our data source. To do this click on Address Block in the Wizard dialog box and a new Insert Address Dialog Box opens. Adjust the settings as needed so that the address appears in appropriate format. Not sure what the format should be? Check out the pdf sample document at the end of this lesson. Click OK. <<Address>> should now appear on this line in the letter.
10. We then want to personalize the greeting or salutation of the letter. Select the text that Greeting, and delete this. On this same line, use the Wizard to insert a Greeting Line which is formatted as such: Dear Ms. Jansen, Click OK. <<GreetingLine>> should now appear for the salutation of this letter.
11. There are two places in the letter where the letter has been personalized to “Jennifer”. We want to delete Jennifer and replace these occurrences with the first name of the person of each recipient. To do this, insert a <<GreetingLine>> formatted to include just the first name of the individual using the Wizard. Repeat this for both occurrences of Jennifer’s name.
12. At the bottom of the Mail Merge Wizard menu, click Next: Preview your Letters. Note that the information from the data source should appear in the field boxes inserted. At the top of the mail merge wizard dialog box you can view the four letters that will be created in the merge. Note: If you notice an error, go back to the Previous Step in the wizard to make necessary changes.
13. At the bottom of the Mail Merge Wizard menu, click Next: Complete the Merge. Note that we now have the option to Print or to Edit Individual Letters, which will allow us to merge to a new document without printing at this time. Select Edit Individual Letters and merge All the records.
14. Save these letters as Merged Letters.docx.
15. Compare these letters with the pdf sample below and prepare to show Mrs. Jansen for a screen check.  While you are waiting, continue with Mail Merge Part 2 that follows...