As promised, here is the simplest set of instructions on mail merge that I can provide. These instructions are not materially different for 2007 although the ribbon functions are not menu driven. Make sure that you have familiarized yourself with Named Ranges before starting. We will assume that your names and addresses are already setup properly in Excel as Contacts.xls with a named range 'ContactList.'
If you are reading this post in desperation while trying to mail merge under a deadline then use your real data and follow along. If you are just trying to learn, then you may want to download this Excel file which contains a generic list of fake names and addresses to practice with:
We will create labels based on the Avery Label templates #5160 which has 30 labels per sheet. Start a new blank document. If not visible, enable the mailmerge toolbar. Click 'Main Document Setup' and select document type 'labels.'
Under label information choose Avery Standard, Product Number '5160 - Address.'
Now we are basically going to go down the line of the toolbar buttons. Although the order we use is not critical, there is no reason to get creative. Select Open Data Source. Navigate to your contact list and click Open. Under the select table dialog box, select the named table 'ContactList' created previously and click OK.
At this point we have connected the two files but not shown Word how to use the connection. The Document will show <<Next Record>> for each label.
Now we want to get specific. Click 'Mail Merge Recipients.' This will give us access to the data from Excel contained in our named range. Here we select only those people we want to include in our list of labels. For our example we will leave the default (all.) This is the point that you run into trouble if you haven't constrained your list to a finite range. You will get thousands of blanks.
Now we want to build the label. The label can contain a combination of text and fields. For example, you could insert an image and type Happy Holidays across the bottom before inserting the name and address fields. These would show up on each label.
Select insert merge label and select each field and click insert in the order in which you would like them to appear: First, Last, Street, City, Zip Code. If you have named your headers in Excel using non standard expressions that Word cannot reconcile into common field names then you can click 'Match Fields...' to double check or correct translating your Excel columns into standard Word fields. Then click Close.
We have just inserted each field into one row. Now we need to go through and add spaces, commas, new lines, etc. to make the label how we want it to look. Go ahead and change fonts at this time as well. Note that only the first label will show the correct fields. The others will still show only <<next record>>.
Click view merged data to populate the first label with real information. If you are following along with my example file, then you should see the fictitious Daniel Anderson. This is the first record (row) in our Excel list. If it looks right, the click 'Propagate Labels' which looks like a refresh button. This will take the information from the first master label and copy it to all of the other labels. If you have toggled View Merged Data on, then it will display the contact information to the other labels on the sheet. Remember to click the propagate button after any modifications to the Master label.
Now, if you've struggled with this operation before, you might be excited and ready to print it right now. Don't get carried away. Think of the Word document as a set of instructions, not a final output. All we have done to this point is set up definitions of what to do. Notice that there is only one page in our list and that the second half of the names are missing. We need to perform the literal Merge operation next. If you want to print at this time, feed in your labels and select 'Merge to Printer.' If, as often happens, you have been doing this in order to help out a less technical colleague then select Merge to New Document or Merge to Email. This will produce a text version of the merge that would allow someone else to print the labels. Remember, the document we created is the Master. The merge is the output and is not linked to the Excel file.
That's about it for the simple version. There are many other facets and potential problems, such as what happens if you need to email the Master to someone else instead of the Output. But you can contact me directly for help with that, because it definitely violates our simple parameter for this post!
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