How to mail merge from an excel spreadsheet

Mailing merging from an Excel spreadsheet allows you to automate the process of sending personalized emails or letters to a large number of recipients. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to do it:

Prerequisites:

  1. You have an Excel spreadsheet with the data you want to mail merge.
  2. You have a word processing software like Microsoft Word or Google Docs.
  3. You have an email client like Microsoft Outlook or Gmail.

Step 1: Prepare your Excel spreadsheet

  1. Open your Excel spreadsheet and make sure it has the following columns:
    • Recipient's email address or mailing address
    • First name
    • Last name
    • Any other relevant information you want to include in your mail merge (e.g., company name, phone number, etc.)
  2. Make sure the data is organized and formatted correctly.

Step 2: Create a mail merge template

  1. Open your word processing software and create a new document.
  2. Go to the "Mailings" tab (in Microsoft Word) or "Tools" menu (in Google Docs).
  3. Click on "Select Recipients" and then "Use an existing list" (in Microsoft Word) or "Create a new list" (in Google Docs).
  4. Choose "Excel" as the file type and select your Excel spreadsheet.
  5. Click "OK" to import the data into your word processing software.

Step 3: Set up the mail merge

  1. In your word processing software, go to the "Mailings" tab (in Microsoft Word) or "Tools" menu (in Google Docs).
  2. Click on "Finish & Merge" (in Microsoft Word) or "Merge" (in Google Docs).
  3. Choose "Edit Individual Documents" (in Microsoft Word) or "Merge to PDF" (in Google Docs).
  4. Select the document you want to use as the template for your mail merge.
  5. Click "OK" to start the mail merge process.

Step 4: Customize the mail merge

  1. In your word processing software, you'll see a preview of the first document in the mail merge.
  2. Use the "Insert Merge Field" button (in Microsoft Word) or "Insert field" button (in Google Docs) to insert the relevant data from your Excel spreadsheet into the document.
  3. Customize the document as needed, using the data from your Excel spreadsheet.

Step 5: Send the mail merge

  1. Once you've customized the document, you can send it to your recipients.
  2. In Microsoft Word, you can send the documents as individual emails or save them as PDFs.
  3. In Google Docs, you can export the documents as PDFs or send them as individual emails.

Tips and Variations: