Create mail merge with Word - a guide

The form letter function in Word is certainly one of the most popular functions in word processing. If you have a little familiarization with it, you can easily create hundreds of letters in just a few clicks in the future.

The path to the mass document

The form letter consists of two parts, the main document - which is generally the same for all recipients, and the individual data of the individual recipients. Three mouse clicks are all it takes to get to the right menu.

• First select the menu item "Consignment" in the Word tab.
• Then open the submenu in the "Start mail merge" group.
• For your first form letters, you should entrust yourself to the "Mail Merge Assistant".

The Mail Merge Assistant from Word - a useful aid for your first attempts

• First you have to choose a document type in the Mail Merge Assistant - in our case "letters".

The start document - the basis for your form letter

The starting or main document is the actual letter to which you will later add the recipient list. Again, you have different options to choose from:

• You continue your work with the Word document already open.
• You select a template and modify it according to your needs.
• You open a letter that has already been created.

The recipient list - the most important part of the serial documents

With well-structured recipient lists, you will save yourself a lot of work in the future. Therefore, you should take a few minutes in advance and think carefully about which data combinations make the most sense for your purposes. Should there be several lists or only one and which data must be recorded in each case. The more precisely you plan in advance, the smoother the form letters will be later. The Mail Merge Assistant offers you access to various data sources:

• You select an existing recipient list.
• You access your Outlook contacts.
• You are now creating a new list.

The last steps - the individual parts become the serial letter

After you have selected the right components, all you have to do is put them together in a form letter.

• First of all, place the address block in the place provided for it in your document.
• Do the same with the greeting line.
• This is usually sufficient, but you can of course add further fields if you wish. When you have inserted all fields, your form letter is ready.

You will of course not only find the form letter function in the MS Office, but also in other office packages, such as Open Office or Libre Office. These instructions were created with Word 2010.