How to insert mail merge code

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 versions of the document with unique information. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to insert mail merge code in Microsoft Word:

Step 1: Create a data source

Before you can start the mail merge process, you need to create a data source. This can be an Excel spreadsheet, a database, or a text file. Make sure the data source is in a format that can be read by Microsoft Word.

Step 2: Open the main document

Open the main document that you want to use for the mail merge. This document should contain the placeholders where you want to insert the data from the data source.

Step 3: Go to the Mailings tab

In the Microsoft Word ribbon, click on the "Mailings" tab.

Step 4: Click on "Select Recipients"

In the "Mailings" tab, click on the "Select Recipients" button in the "Start Mail Merge" group.

Step 5: Choose the data source

In the "Select Recipients" dialog box, choose the data source you created in Step 1. If you're using an Excel spreadsheet, you can select the entire spreadsheet or a specific range of cells.

Step 6: Click on "Finish & Merge"

Once you've selected the data source, click on the "Finish & Merge" button.

Step 7: Choose the merge output

In the "Merge to New Document" dialog box, choose the output format you want to use. You can choose to create a new document for each record in the data source or merge the data into a single document.

Step 8: Insert the mail merge code

In the main document, place your cursor where you want to insert the data from the data source. Then, click on the "Insert Merge Field" button in the "Write & Insert Fields" group.

Step 9: Choose the field

In the "Insert Merge Field" dialog box, choose the field you want to insert from the data source. You can browse through the fields in the data source or use the "Field names" dropdown menu to select a specific field.

Step 10: Insert the code

Once you've selected the field, click on the "Insert" button to insert the mail merge code into the main document. The code will be surrounded by double curly braces, like this: {MERGEFIELD FieldName}.

Step 11: Repeat the process

Repeat the process for each field you want to insert from the data source.

Step 12: Preview and merge

Once you've inserted all the mail merge code, you can preview the merged document by clicking on the "Preview Results" button. If everything looks good, you can merge the data by clicking on the "Merge" button.

That's it! With these steps, you should be able to insert mail merge code in Microsoft Word and create multiple versions of your document with unique information.