Page 1 of 6
Created by BIM 10/01/07
How do I create a DATA SOURCE for my merge?
Mail merges require a DATA SOURCE. The data source represents the information which you want to merge into letters, name tags, labels, etc. The data source document must be a TEXT format (.txt & .csv are the most common formats) file. The file should consist of a HEADER row and one or more DATA records:
The DATA SOURCE consists of data fields with delimiters between fields. These delimiters are usually tabs or "," (know as a .CSV file or quote-comma-quote delimited file). The sample above was arranged for easy viewing but the tab delimited version would like this:
The Header and Data do not appear to have any format yet they do. All the information in a row is separated by one tab stop. Each row is separated by a carriage return.
Your DATA SOURCE file will generally be a Notepad (which by default is tab delimited)
or Excel text file:
You don't have to use every field from you data source in your merge. If your merge file contains first, middle and last name and you don't need to use "middle" in you merge, then don't. Mail merge does not force you to use every column from your data source
If you create the data source in Excel, be sure to save it as a .txt or .csv file. To save as a text file select File>Save as:
Page 2 of 6
When you save an excel file as text you will get the message:
Select "Yes". This message will appear again when you close the file you created. Select "Yes" again.
If your data source contains fields with leading zeros such as a zip code i.e. 02345, be sure to format the column as "custom" and enter the appropriate format before saving:
Page 3 of 6
Created by BIM 10/01/07
How do I create a MAIL MERGE?
Begin by opening a new word document. Word has a Mail Merge Wizard to help you step-by-step to create a merge file. To start the mail merge wizard, open WORD and select Tools>Letters and Mailings>Mail Merge:
A Mail Merge task pane will open on the right of your screen where you can select your document type and follow the "Step 1 of #" to guide you through the rest of the process:
DO NOT use the E-mail messages option if available. We recommend purchasing an inexpensive mass email tool if you want to personalize email messages
There is a Mail Merge toolbar:
but we recommend using the mail merge wizard so you don't miss any vital steps.
Once you completed the merge we recommend you select "Edit Individual letters" and not "Print". This gives you a chance to review the merge and make any changes if need be:
Page 4 of 6
What can I do with my document or template once I have completed the merge?
When you select "Edit individual letters" you have created a new word document. If you will need to refer to the merged document you will want to save it. If you want to save the merge template for future use with another data source you will need to save it separately. If you want to print a sampling of records remember that each merged letter is a section
and not a page. For example, to print the first and third pages in merge you would select s1,s3:
If you need to forward the merged document to someone else for printing you will need to first save the completed merge as a .doc file and forward it to the appropriate party. If you have created a useful merge template that someone else may find useful, you can
forward the template to them. The template is the document with the merge fields, not the data fields.
Page 5 of 6
Created by BIM 10/01/07
HELP! What am I doing wrong!
I’m inserting my mail merge fields but it doesn’t look right! Instead of seeing
I see
This simply means that you have a word setting called “Field Codes” turned on. Change this setting by going to Tools>Options and selecting the View tab. Make sure the check box beside “Field Codes” is unchecked.
When I load my data source I get the message that “Record # contained too few data
fields” or too many data fields for row! How I get out of this and how do I fix it!
Usually this problem occurs when you have created a tab delimited file and forget to insert a tab or inserted too many tabs in a row of data. Or it could be that data you obtained from another source contains field used as delimiters within a data field. You need to go back to your data source and make the necessary corrections. To get yourself out of the merge source continue hitting enter until you reach the end of the data file (if it is short file) or you can force quit out of the merge if you have a large file.
I saved a merge file as a template (.dot file) but now I can’t find it! What happened? By default, word saves templates to a predefined template folder. You can create your own folder for storing templates then change the default in word by going to
Tools>Options and going to the File Location tab. Select “User Templates” then the “Modify “ button to browse to the folder where you want to store your templates.
Page 6 of 6
I want to merge new data into a merge file I saved but the header row has slightly
different name. For example, my merge file contains the field “Last” but my new data source calls the same column “Last Name”. Do I have to recreate the document from scratch?
You have two options here.
You can look at the field names in your merge and then go back and change the headers in you data source to match
By default the mail merge wizard will prompt you with an “Invalid Merge Field”. This will give you the opportunity to replace "Last" with "Last Name".
