Mail Merge
Microsoft Office can be used to merge data from an Excel spreadsheet with a Word document, to create letters, labels, and other products. These Mail Merges can be mass produced, yet individually customized as needed.
The instructions for completing a Mail Merge vary depending upon whether you are using a Mac or Windows device. However, all of these situations have the same basic tenets, as outlined below.
1) A Data Source
All Mail Merges begin with a data source. Possible sources of data within LPS:
- Synergy
- A list you create yourself
- Any list of data that can be opened in an Excel Spreadsheet
No matter what the source of your data, you will need to download the information to your computer, open it in an Excel spreadsheet, and make any needed edits. Here are a few ideas:
- Delete any columns of unnecessary data
- Add a header row that identifies the columns
- Eliminate blank rows from the sheet
- Look for errors that can be fixed manually
When the spreadsheet is ready, save it where it is easily accessible during the Mail Merge.
2) Assemble the Document
Now that your spreadsheet is ready, create the document that will contain the merged data.
Launch Microsoft Word.
This is where the process diverges depending upon the computer you are using. On a Windows computer you will use the Mail Merge Wizard, and on a Mac you will walk through the steps in the menu bar.
The steps for creating a mail merge are:
- Open a new Word document in the form of a letter, label, or other format
- Connect the document to your spreadsheet
- Insert the fields from your spreadsheet into the template in your document
3) Merge!
The last step will be to run the merge. This will create a new document that contains all of the data in the format you created.
Save this new document to the desired location.
For questions or assistance with Mail Merge, please enter an LPS Help Desk ticket
