How do you mail merge on excel

Mail merging in Excel is a powerful feature that allows you to combine data from a database or a table with a template document, such as a Word document or an email, to create multiple personalized documents. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to mail merge in Excel:

Prerequisites:

• You have a table or database in Excel with the data you want to use for the mail merge.
• You have a template document (e.g., a Word document or an email) that you want to use as the basis for the mail merge.
• You have Microsoft Word or a compatible email client installed on your computer.

Step 1: Prepare your data

• Make sure your data is organized in a table or database in Excel, with each row representing a single record and each column representing a field (e.g., name, address, phone number, etc.).
• Ensure that your data is clean and free of errors.

Step 2: Create a mail merge template

• Open your template document (e.g., a Word document or an email) and create a new document or open an existing one.
• Insert placeholders for the fields you want to merge, using the following syntax:
  • For Word documents: << followed by the field name (e.g., <<Name>>) and >>
  • For email clients: use the field name surrounded by double curly braces (e.g., {{Name}})
• Save your template document.

Step 3: Set up the mail merge

• In Excel, go to the "Data" tab and click on "From Other Sources" > "From Microsoft Query".
• In the "Query Wizard", select "Excel Files" as the data source and choose your Excel file.
• Select the table or database you want to use for the mail merge and click "Finish".
• In the "Mail Merge" dialog box, select the template document you created in Step 2 and click "OK".

Step 4: Map the fields

• In the "Mail Merge" dialog box, click on the "Map Fields" button.
• Match the fields in your Excel data with the placeholders in your template document.
• Click "OK" to save the mapping.

Step 5: Run the mail merge

• Click on the "Merge" button to start the mail merge process.
• Excel will combine the data from your table or database with the template document, creating a new document for each record.
• You can choose to save the merged documents as separate files or combine them into a single document.

Tips and Variations:

• You can use multiple tables or databases for the mail merge by creating a query that combines the data.
• You can also use conditional formatting and formulas to customize the mail merge output.
• For more advanced mail merge features, you can use third-party add-ins or VBA macros.