What is mail merge in word

The starting document contains the field names for the variable information, like the names and addresses that will be inserted. Data Source or Recipients List A file that contains the information to be inserted into the main document during a mail merge.

For example, it has records containing the names and addresses of the people a mail merge letter is sent to. Excel spreadsheets, Access databases, or Word document tables are good examples of data sources. Field A data category that stores a specific piece of information.

Record A record is an entire set of data fields that relate to a single thing or person. Merge Field A merge field is where you want to insert the information from a data source into a main document.

Merge fields appear with chevrons « » around them. An example would be: Dear «FirstName». Address Block A group of merge fields that make up an address in a mail merge document. You can also print a set of mailing labels or envelopes by doing a mail merge.

For labels, for example, you would construct a source document containing the addresses of the people you wish to print labels for and a main document that controls where each person's name, address, city, state, and zip code will go on the label. The main document would also contain information about how many labels are on a page, the size of each label, the size of the sheet of paper the labels are attached to, and the type of printer you will use to print the labels.

Running a mail merge with the two files results in a set of labels, one for each entry in the source document, with each label formatted according to the information in the main document. By: Satish Balakrishnan. Dictionary Dictionary Term of the Day. Gorilla Glass. Techopedia Terms. Connect with us. Sign up. Term of the Day. Best of Techopedia weekly. News and Special Offers occasional. You can insert one or more mail merge fields that pull the information from your spreadsheet into your document.

Company Name, etc. Choose the appropriate field you want to merge and choose Insert. After you insert the merge fields you want you can now preview the results to confirm that the document is set-up the way you want.

The merge fields will be populated with the data on the first row of your excel document. To move through the records in your data source and view how they will appear in the document choose the right arrow to advance or the left arrow for the previous record.

You will now have a separate letter for each of the rows on the excel document which you can print, email, etc.