How to do mail merge from excel for labels
Mail merge from Excel to labels! That's a great task. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you achieve it:
Prerequisites:
- Microsoft Excel 2010 or later version
- Microsoft Word 2010 or later version
- Label template (you can create one or use an existing one)
Step 1: Prepare your data in Excel
- Open your Excel file and create a table with the following columns:
- Column A: First name
- Column B: Last name
- Column C: Address
- Column D: City
- Column E: State
- Column F: ZIP
- Column G: Phone number (optional)
- Enter your data in the table. Make sure to format the columns correctly (e.g., text for names, numbers for phone numbers).
Step 2: Create a label template in Word
- Open Microsoft Word and create a new document.
- Go to the "Mailings" tab in the ribbon.
- Click on "Labels" and select "Label Options" from the drop-down menu.
- Choose your label template or create a new one. You can choose from various label sizes and shapes.
- Click "OK" to close the Label Options dialog box.
Step 3: Set up the mail merge
- Go back to your Excel file and select all the data in the table (Ctrl+A).
- Copy the selected data (Ctrl+C).
- Open Microsoft Word and create a new document.
- Go to the "Mailings" tab in the ribbon.
- Click on "Start Mail Merge" and select "Step-by-Step Mail Merge Wizard".
- Follow the wizard's prompts to set up the mail merge:
- Choose "Labels" as the document type.
- Select the label template you created earlier.
- Choose "Use an existing list" and select the Excel file you copied the data from.
- Click "Next" to proceed.
Step 4: Map the fields
- In the "Select recipients" window, click on "Edit recipient list" and then "Edit" to open the "Mail Merge Recipients" window.
- In the "Mail Merge Recipients" window, click on "Match Fields" to map the Excel columns to the label fields:
- First name: Map to "First Name" in the label template.
- Last name: Map to "Last Name" in the label template.
- Address: Map to "Address" in the label template.
- City: Map to "City" in the label template.
- State: Map to "State" in the label template.
- ZIP: Map to "ZIP" in the label template.
- Phone number: Map to "Phone Number" in the label template (if applicable).
- Click "OK" to close the "Mail Merge Recipients" window.
Step 5: Merge the data
- Click "Next" in the mail merge wizard to proceed.
- In the "Preview your letters" window, you'll see a preview of the merged labels. Review the data to ensure it's correct.
- Click "Finish & Merge" to merge the data.
- Choose "Print" to print the labels or "Save to File" to save them as a PDF or other file format.
That's it! You've successfully performed a mail merge from Excel to labels using Microsoft Word.