How to do a mail merge word 2010

A classic task! Mail merge is a powerful feature in Microsoft Word that allows you to combine a main document with a data source, such as an Excel spreadsheet or a database, to create multiple personalized documents. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to do a mail merge in Word 2010:

Prerequisites:

1. You have a main document (e.g., a letter or an email) that you want to personalize.
2. You have a data source (e.g., an Excel spreadsheet or a database) that contains the information you want to use for the merge.

Step 1: Prepare your data source

1. Open your data source (e.g., Excel spreadsheet) and make sure it's organized in a table format with each column representing a field (e.g., name, address, phone number).
2. Save your data source as a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file or an Excel file (.xlsx).

Step 2: Create a new document

1. Open Microsoft Word 2010 and create a new document.
2. Type in your main document content, using placeholders for the fields you want to merge (e.g., [Name], [Address], [Phone Number]).

Step 3: Set up the mail merge

1. Go to the "Mailings" tab in the ribbon.
2. Click on "Select Recipients" and then "Use an Existing List" to select your data source file (CSV or Excel file).
3. Choose the data source file and click "Open".
4. Word will create a new document with a "Mailings" tab and a "Recipient List" section.

Step 4: Map the fields

1. In the "Recipient List" section, click on the "Match Fields" button.
2. In the "Match Fields" dialog box, select the fields from your data source that match the placeholders in your main document.
3. Click "OK" to close the dialog box.

Step 5: Perform the mail merge

1. Click on the "Finish & Merge" button in the "Mailings" tab.
2. Choose "Edit Individual Documents" to create a new document for each recipient.
3. Word will create a new document for each recipient, using the data from your data source to fill in the placeholders.

Tips and Variations:

• You can use the "Merge to New Document" option to create a new document for each recipient, or the "Send to Printer" option to print the merged documents.
• You can also use the "Merge to Email" option to send the merged documents as email attachments.
• To merge data from multiple data sources, you can use the "Combine Data Sources" option.
• To merge data from a database, you can use the "Database" option in the "Select Recipients" dialog box.

That's it! With these steps, you should be able to perform a mail merge in Word 2010.