Excel mail merge without word

The classic conundrum!

While Microsoft Word is the traditional tool for mail merging, you can actually perform a mail merge in Excel without using Word. Here are a few methods:

Method 1: Using Excel's built-in Mail Merge feature

1. Open your Excel spreadsheet and select the data range you want to use for the mail merge.
2. Go to the "Data" tab in the ribbon and click on "From Other Sources" > "From Microsoft Query".
3. In the Query Wizard, select "Mail Merge" as the query type and click "Finish".
4. In the Mail Merge dialog box, select the template file (e.g., a blank Word document) and click "Open".
5. Map the Excel fields to the corresponding fields in the template file.
6. Click "OK" to merge the data.

Method 2: Using Excel's VBA Macro

1. Open the Visual Basic Editor in Excel by pressing "Alt + F11" or navigating to "Developer" > "Visual Basic" in the ribbon.

2. Create a new module by clicking "Insert" > "Module" and pasting the following code:

   Sub MailMerge()
    Dim wdApp As Object
    Dim wdDoc As Object
    Dim wdMailMerge As Object
    Dim wdDataSource As Object
    Dim wdRecordset As Object
    Dim i As Integer
   
    Set wdApp = CreateObject("Word.Application")
    Set wdDoc = wdApp.Documents.Open("C:\Path\To\Template.docx")
    Set wdMailMerge = wdDoc.MailMerge
    Set wdDataSource = wdMailMerge.OpenDataSource("C:\Path\To\ExcelFile.xlsx", _
        wdMailMergeDataSourceExcel, wdMailMergeDataSourceExcel)
    wdMailMerge.Execute wdSendToNewDocument
   
    wdApp.Quit
    Set wdApp = Nothing
    Set wdDoc = Nothing
    Set wdMailMerge = Nothing
    Set wdDataSource = Nothing
    Set wdRecordset = Nothing
   End Sub

3. Replace the file paths with your own file locations.

4. Save the module and close the Visual Basic Editor.

5. In Excel, go to the "Developer" tab in the ribbon and click on "Macros" > "Run" to execute the macro.

Method 3: Using a third-party add-in

There are several third-party add-ins available that allow you to perform mail merges directly in Excel, such as:

• Excel Mail Merge (by Excel-Toolbox)
• Mail Merge for Excel (by Softwrap)
• Excel Merge (by MergeSoft)

These add-ins often provide a user-friendly interface for setting up and executing mail merges.

Keep in mind that while these methods can help you perform a mail merge in Excel without using Word, they may not offer the same level of customization and control as using Word's built-in mail merge feature.