Use mail merge to streamline mass mailings

Today's post about using mail merge to create a mass mailing is contributed by Kristin Beck, a writer and editor for Office.com.

Start Mail MergeMany of you want to know more about how to set up and run a mail merge.  Mail merge streamlines the mass-mailing process by allowing you to send out a set of documents or messages to multiple contacts, and still customize some of the content. 

Say you want to create and print a form letter or email message to send to some or all of your customers.  Each document has the same kind of information, yet some of its content is unique. For example, you can personalize every letter or label to address each recipient by name. The unique information in each letter comes from entries in a data source, for example, your Outlook Contacts, an Excel list of contacts, or a combination of the two.

  • For step-by-step guidance on doing a mail merge in Office 2010, download this clever PowerPoint deck: Mail merge made easy. The slides ask you where you keep your contact data and and how to use Word or Publisher to create the labels for your flyer.
  • If you're using Word 2003, Demo: Use mail merge to format and print mailing labels shows you how to use mail merge to quickly format and print mailing labels. If you already have a file that contains your contacts' names and addresses, you can connect that file to your label main document.
  • Watch this Office Casual video to learn three key ingredients to a successful mail merge.
  • Don't know where to start, or how to structure your mail merge letter? Download this free mail merge template.

Did we miss something? What questions do you have about mass mailings?

--Kristin Beck

More info on Mail Merge:

Mail Merge: How to send a personalized e-mail to many people at once

Use mail merge to send personalized e-mail messages to your e-mail address list

Webinar: Mail Merge

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Comments: (15) Collapse

  • If I have a list of contacts in a Excel spreadsheet stored in SkyDrive, is there a way to configure mail merge to use those contacts without downloading the Excel spreadsheet to my local computer?

  • Hi JohnCz,

    Good question.  Sorry, no. Word needs a file location, and (so far) there’s no good way to feed the SkyDrive location of the XL file to Word. You’d need to save the XL sheet and use its file location, not a URL, to have Word find it.

    Thanks,

    Kristin

  • I want to attach a .ppt to the mass email I am sending.  I have customized the email content but can't figure out how to include the attachment.  Thoughts?

  • How do I weave a Works database into my new version of Word 10?  I used to do it with my older version.

  • Can a mail merge, from Word to Outlook, be marked as “Sensitivity Private”?

    I need to create a mail merge that is private from anyone, who has delegation rights/access in Outlook. The setting Sensitivity Private will keep the message secure and private from any delegates in Outlook; however, I don’t see this option in Word before the mail merge takes place.

  • I have contacts filered out in excel spreadsheet.  I want only those contacts to use in mail merge - how do I do that?

  • I WANY TO DO A SNAIL MAIL. WHERE DO I ENTER THE ADDRESS'S? DO I DO IT IN EXCEL?

  • I have had problems in completing an email merge after having made individual changes to a few of the emails after I had run the merge, especially the addressee's name in the greeting.  Once I make those changes (in Word), the "Finish and Merge" button is not operative to send the revised messages.  Any thoughts?

  • I am tring to set up a mail merge, and wish to personalize the letter and envalope with the first name followed by the spouse/partners name and then the last name. however although I have the spouse/partner name saved it showes up nowere on the contact card,not in the full name space. how can i insert the spouse/partner name in, can I add a field to the contact card? if so how.

  • Hi, I need help to mail merge two Excell documents.  I have a one page form where certain detail from another document must be added too.  The second document consist out of 1030 different clients with different detail, but the 1st main document is the same to each client with their unique info on.  Can someone help?

  • Can you tell me how to attache file to mail merge?

  • I want to be able to send an attachment with my mail merge, how can I do that

  • I have been out sick but doing work from home.  I have a list of customers that I need to get a letter to too, only I have no printer at home.  Can I email my coworker the mail merged list that I have and she print all the seperate letters?

  • G'day....I am using mail-merge to  send an  e-mail from  an  Access data base. if I  send  them in HTML format some  recipients can't  read them, but as an  attachment  they  work but  I  have  to  send  each one  individually  fron the  Mailing area in Word. How  can  I  send  them in one  stream ???????

  • I have been able to retrieve my entire mailing list from a disaster with Anytime software and have stored it in Outlook Contacts file.  Outlook is new to me and I have gradually learned basics but cannot discover how to (selectively) create a Christmas Card mailing list (suitable for printing on Avery type stickers).  Can you please point me in the right direction?

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