Creating a mail merge using the wizard

We will use the mail merge wizard to combine an existing Word 2019 document with merge fields from an existing Excel 2019 worksheet to produce invoice letters for our customer base. Follow these steps to do so:

1. When using the Mail Merge Wizard, start from New | Blank Document or open an existing document.
2. For this example, we will use an existing document called SafestInvoice.docx. This document can be opened prior to starting the merge or as the first step of the mail merge wizard.
3. Click on the Mailings tab on the ribbon.
4. Click on the Start Mail Merge icon to access the drop-down menu.

5. Choose the Step-by-Step Mail Merge Wizard… option at the bottom of the drop-down list:

6. Note that the Mail Merge pane has opened up on the right-hand side of the Word environment and shows Step 2 of 6 at the bottom of the pane due to the fact that we have already opened an existing document to use in the mail merge.
7. At this stage, you can open a letter you would like to use for a mail merge or type a letter on a new, blank Word document. Since the letter is a mail merge letter, we will make sure to leave spaces for the fields that we would like to insert from our address list at a later stage. The only information on the letter should be general information that's not specific to a person, place, or thing. We will add merge fields to populate specific information for each individual customer.
8. For information purposes, Step 1 of 6 is to select a document type to create. Letters are the default document type. Please note, though, that other document types are available, such as email messages, envelopes, labels, directories, and so on. For this example, we have already moved to Step 2 of 6 due to already having an existing document open.
9. Make sure that Step 2 of 6 displays Use the Current Document.
10. At the bottom of the pane, click on Next: Select Recipients.
11. The task pane reflects Step 3 of 6, which allows you to choose the data you wish to merge with the Letter (data could be a contact list typed in Excel, Outlook, Access, or a Word table). You should also be able to type your own list if you have not created a list yet or selected one from your Outlook contacts list. For this example, we will use an already created Excel data file called CustomerData.xlsx.

12. Click on Use an Existing list.
13. Select the Browse... icon to locate the CustomerData.xlsx data source on your computer.
14. Click on CustomerData.xlsx and then choose Open at the bottom of the dialog box.
15. Select the worksheet you wish to use in the mail merge:

16. The mail merge recipients list will be displayed in a dialog box where you can edit, sort, filter, or include/exclude merge field recipients from the data source.
17. Click on the OK command when you're done.
18. The recipient list will be visible on the Use an existing list heading in the Mail Merge pane. Here, you can change to another list or edit the current recipient list.
19. Click on Next: Write your letter.
20. The task pane reflects Step 4 of 6, which allows us to write the letter and insert the merge fields. Since we already have our standard invoice, we can start inserting merge fields into our document.
21. Click in the document next to the word Invoice #. Click on the More Items… option to select the field names from your data source so that you can enter them in the Word document at the relevant positions. Choose the InvNo field from the dialog box provided and click on Insert.

22. Repeat this process until all the field names have been inserted into the document:

The preceding screenshot displays the fields that were inserted in the first part of the document, while the following screenshot shows the fields at the bottom of the document, for reference:

23. Click Next: Preview to preview your letters on the task pane, which will take you to Step 5 of 6. This view gives you an indication of how the document will look once it's complete and give you a chance to see if the merged fields are correct and spaced properly.

24. If any errors present themselves, return to the previous step by clicking on the Previous: icon at the bottom of the task pane, make the change, and then move on.
25. To exclude a recipient from the final merge result, locate the person you no longer wish to send a letter to using the back or forward recipient arrows, and click on the Exclude this recipient button.
26. Click Next: Complete the merge to move to the last step.
27. Step 6 offers two options: one to print directly to the printer and another to edit the letters before printing. Choose Edit individual letters… to check that you have all your letters in order before sending hordes of incorrect information to the printer and wasting paper.
28. In the Merge to New Document dialog box, click OK to send all records to the new document.
29. A new document will open, in this case, Letters6.docx, containing all the merged information as unique separate letters positioned one after the other.
30. Print the letters and close the document (you don't need to save).
31. The document you need to save is the Word document with the merged fields in it (the document that you created all the mail merge steps in).
32. A mail merge document is very useful as you could use the same information to prepare and merge envelopes or labels.
33. To print the document, click on the File tab to access the Backstage view. Click on the Print option. Adjust any settings/properties and then click on the Print icon.

Next, we'll look at constructing forms.