How to Do a Mail Merge in Word (Letters, Labels and Emails)
Mail merge lets you write one letter and send a personalised copy to everyone on a list — "Dear Jane", "Dear Tom" — without typing a single name. The same trick works for address labels, envelopes and emails.
You need two things:
1. A Word document — your letter.
2. A list — usually an Excel spreadsheet.
2. A list — usually an Excel spreadsheet.
Step 1: Prepare your Excel list
• Put headings in row 1: for example, First_Name, Last_Name, Address, Town, Postcode, Email.
• One person per row, no blank rows.
• Keep the list on the first sheet and close the Excel file before you start.
• One person per row, no blank rows.
• Keep the list on the first sheet and close the Excel file before you start.
Step 2: Start the merge in Word
1. Open your letter in Word (or a blank document).
2. Go to the Mailings tab.
3. Click Start Mail Merge > Letters.
4. Click Select Recipients > Use an Existing List…
5. Find your Excel file and click Open.
6. Choose the sheet (usually Sheet1$), make sure First row of data contains column headers is ticked, and click OK.
2. Go to the Mailings tab.
3. Click Start Mail Merge > Letters.
4. Click Select Recipients > Use an Existing List…
5. Find your Excel file and click Open.
6. Choose the sheet (usually Sheet1$), make sure First row of data contains column headers is ticked, and click OK.
Tip: Click Edit Recipient List to untick anyone you don't want to include, or to sort and filter the list.
Step 3: Add the merge fields
Merge fields are placeholders that get replaced with each person's details.
1. Click where you want the person's name — for example, after "Dear ".
2. Click the arrow on Insert Merge Field and choose First_Name.
2. Click the arrow on Insert Merge Field and choose First_Name.
It appears as «First_Name». Add as many fields as you need.
For addresses and greetings, Word has shortcuts:
• Address Block — inserts a full, correctly formatted address.
• Greeting Line — inserts "Dear Jane," with options for the format.
• Greeting Line — inserts "Dear Jane," with options for the format.
Step 4: Preview
Click Preview Results. The placeholders change to real names and addresses. Use the arrows next to it to step through each person and check everything looks right.
Step 5: Finish the merge
Click Finish & Merge and choose:
• Edit Individual Documents — creates a new Word document with every letter in it. You can check and tweak individual letters before printing. (Recommended.)
• Print Documents — prints them straight away.
• Send Email Messages — sends each one as an email (see below).
• Print Documents — prints them straight away.
• Send Email Messages — sends each one as an email (see below).
Make labels instead
1. Mailings > Start Mail Merge > Labels.
2. Choose your label brand and product number (it's printed on the label packet — for example, Avery L7160) and click OK.
3. Select Recipients > Use an Existing List and pick your spreadsheet.
4. In the first label, click Address Block (or insert fields).
5. Click Update Labels to copy the layout to every label.
6. Preview Results, then Finish & Merge > Edit Individual Documents.
2. Choose your label brand and product number (it's printed on the label packet — for example, Avery L7160) and click OK.
3. Select Recipients > Use an Existing List and pick your spreadsheet.
4. In the first label, click Address Block (or insert fields).
5. Click Update Labels to copy the layout to every label.
6. Preview Results, then Finish & Merge > Edit Individual Documents.
Send personalised emails
1. Mailings > Start Mail Merge > E-mail Messages.
2. Select your recipients (the list needs an Email column).
3. Write your message and add merge fields.
4. Finish & Merge > Send Email Messages.
5. Set To to your Email column, type a Subject line, choose HTML format and click OK.
2. Select your recipients (the list needs an Email column).
3. Write your message and add merge fields.
4. Finish & Merge > Send Email Messages.
5. Set To to your Email column, type a Subject line, choose HTML format and click OK.
Note: Sending mail merge emails needs the classic Outlook desktop app set up as your default email app. Send a test to yourself first by filtering the list to just your own address.
Fix number and date formatting
Sometimes £1,250.00 comes through as 1250, or dates appear in the American format. The easiest fix is in Excel: make a new column with the value as text, for example:
=TEXT(D2, "£#,##0.00")
=TEXT(E2, "dd mmmm yyyy")
=TEXT(E2, "dd mmmm yyyy")
Use those columns as your merge fields instead.
Wrapping up
Tidy Excel list, Mailings > Start Mail Merge, Select Recipients, Insert Merge Field, Preview Results, Finish & Merge. Once you've done it once, a 200-letter mailout takes minutes.
