How to do mail merge in excel 2013

Mail merge is a powerful feature in Excel that allows you to combine data from a spreadsheet with a document template to create multiple documents with unique information. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to do a mail merge in Excel 2013:

Prerequisites:

• Excel 2013 or later version
• A document template (e.g., Word document, PDF, or text file)
• A spreadsheet with data you want to merge (e.g., names, addresses, etc.)

Step 1: Prepare your data

• Open your spreadsheet and make sure it's organized with headers in the first row.
• Ensure that the data is in a format that can be easily merged, such as a table with columns for each field you want to merge.

Step 2: Create a document template

• Open your document template (e.g., Word document, PDF, or text file) and prepare it for mail merge.
• Make sure the template has placeholders for the data you want to merge, such as [Name], [Address], etc.

Step 3: Set up the mail merge

• In Excel, go to the "Data" tab in the ribbon.
• Click on "From Other Sources" and then select "From Microsoft Query".
• In the "Query Wizard", select "Excel Files" as the data source and choose your spreadsheet.
• Click "Finish" to create a query.

Step 4: Design the mail merge

• In the "Query Wizard", click on the "Design" button.
• In the "Design View", select the fields you want to merge from your spreadsheet.
• Drag and drop the fields onto the "Mail Merge" tab.
• Arrange the fields in the order you want them to appear in your merged document.

Step 5: Merge the data

• Click on the "Merge" button to start the mail merge process.
• Select the document template you prepared earlier.
• Choose the output format (e.g., Word document, PDF, or text file).
• Click "OK" to start the merge process.

Step 6: Review and save the merged documents

• Once the merge is complete, review the resulting documents to ensure they are accurate and formatted correctly.
• Save the merged documents to a location of your choice.

Tips and Variations:

• You can use multiple data sources for a single mail merge.
• You can use formulas and formatting to customize the merged documents.
• You can also use mail merge to merge data with other applications, such as Outlook or PowerPoint.

Common Issues:

• Make sure your spreadsheet data is organized and formatted correctly.
• Ensure that your document template has placeholders for the data you want to merge.
• If you encounter errors during the mail merge process, check your data and template for formatting issues.

By following these steps, you can successfully perform a mail merge in Excel 2013 and create multiple documents with unique information.