How to do mail merge in word 2010 from excel

Mail merge is a powerful feature in Microsoft Word that allows you to combine data from an external source, such as an Excel spreadsheet, with a Word document template to create multiple documents with unique information. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to do a mail merge in Word 2010 from Excel:

Step 1: Prepare your data in Excel

• Open your Excel spreadsheet and select the data you want to use for the mail merge.
• Make sure the data is organized in a table format with each column representing a field (e.g., Name, Address, Phone Number, etc.).
• Save your Excel file as a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file. This will make it easier to import into Word.

Step 2: Create a Word document template

• Open Microsoft Word 2010 and create a new document or open an existing one.
• Design your document template with placeholders for the data you want to merge. For example, you can use the "Insert Placeholder" feature to insert fields for names, addresses, and phone numbers.
• Save your Word document as a.docx file.

Step 3: Set up the mail merge

• Open your Word document and go to the "Mailings" tab in the ribbon.
• Click on "Select Recipients" and then "Use an Existing List" to select your CSV file.
• Choose the CSV file you saved earlier and click "Open".
• Word will import the data from the CSV file and display it in the "Mailings" tab.

Step 4: Match the data fields

• In the "Mailings" tab, you'll see a list of fields from your Excel data. Match each field to the corresponding placeholder in your Word document template.
• For example, if you have a column in your Excel data called "Name", you can match it to the "Name" placeholder in your Word document.

Step 5: Perform the mail merge

• Click on the "Finish & Merge" button in the "Mailings" tab.
• Choose "Edit Individual Documents" to create a new document for each record in your data.
• Word will merge the data with your document template and create a new document for each record.

Tips and Variations

• You can use the "Merge to New Document" option to create a new document for each record, or the "Send to Printer" option to print the merged documents directly.
• You can also use the "Merge to PDF" option to create a PDF file for each record.
• If you have a large dataset, you may want to consider using the "Merge to Folder" option to create a folder with individual documents for each record.
• You can also use mail merge to create envelopes, labels, and other types of documents.