Mail Merges in Microsoft Office
*Note: This How To is written for the purpose of 8.5x11 letters and #10 envelopes. The steps may not be the same for labels and red postcards. Margin for Letters: Left: 1.7 Top/Bottom: 1.5 Right:.5- Open the appropriate template: labels, letters, envelope, "red card", etc.
- Make sure to proofread the template a final time and make sure there are not any errors, including the date, deadline (if PCT), and grammar mistakes. If there are errors, you want to fix them now. Trying to fix errors once the letters are merged is more difficult.
- Make sure the template is using the correct letterhead dimensions (if a letter) and that there is room for a signature at the end (if applicable).
- To print on a standard envelope, you will want to find the #10 envelope template in membership/ mailings & publications/ templates
- Begin the Mail Merge
- If there is a mistake after Step 6, don't freak out. You likely made a mistake in Step 4 when you wrote your letter, or there were errors in the Excel sheet you were importing from. Take a step back and investigate - the fix will likely be easy. You can always go backwards from Step 6 back to an earlier step.
- If you have additional questions or need to do a more complex mail merge, Google is the place to go.
a. Go to the top "mailings" tab. The 3rd icon from the left should say "Start Mail Merge"
b. From this drop down menu, select step-by-step mail merge wizard.
b. From this drop down menu, select step-by-step mail merge wizard.
Step 1: Keep the default as letters if you are printing letters or envelopes.
Step 2: Keep the default as "use the current document"
Step 3: Keep the default as "use an existing list" and upload the excel sheet you are pulling names from.
Step 4: Under the "mailings" tab, click "insert merge field." These are the fields that you are merging from the excel sheet, including name and address. You will insert the merge fields into the template, taking care to make sure that all proper punctuation and spacing is included.
Step 5: This step will generate a "preview" of your merged template
Step 6: Select "edit individual letters" - this will create a document with all of your merged letters.
Step 2: Keep the default as "use the current document"
Step 3: Keep the default as "use an existing list" and upload the excel sheet you are pulling names from.
Important note: Make sure the excel sheet you are pulling from is in the order in which you want your document to print. Printing alphabetically makes it easiest to notice errors (missed letters, etc.)
Step 5: This step will generate a "preview" of your merged template
Step 6: Select "edit individual letters" - this will create a document with all of your merged letters.
Zip Codes Starting With Zero Issue - When running a mail merge that has zip codes that start with zero, excel will cut off the starting zeros because it doesn't recognize the numbers as zip codes. Here is how to correct the problem:
- Highlight the cells your wanting to change
- Click format cells (either by the shortcut key, or right clicking then selecting format cells)
- Click the Number tab, go to Custom in the left list
- On the right side you will see "Type:" for every number you wish to be able to change put the # sign, and where you want the zero's put a 0. For instance:
- A four digit number with the first always being zero: 0 followed by four number signs
