Free demo · Microsoft Word · Lesson 4 · Advanced · Mail merge

Mail merge: one letter, every name

Write the letter once, keep the names in Excel, and Word fills in a copy for every person. The Mailings tab does it in four moves.

First | Last | City | Amount Asha | Verma | Pune | 2500 Ravi | Nair | Kochi | 800 Meera | Das | Kolkata | 1200
  1. 1Data source: an Excel list, headings in row 1, one person per row
  2. 2Mailings › Start Mail Merge › Letters · Select Recipients › the workbook

Dear «First»,

Thank you for your gift of ₹«Amount» to our computer classes in Kolkata.

Warm regards,
MAVI Foundation

  1. 3Insert Merge Field: «First», «Amount» placeholders in the letter
  2. 4Preview Results shows real names and amounts
  3. ✓Finish & Merge: print, save or e-mail one letter per person
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  5. Enrol

Tip: press → or Space to step through, ← to go back, R to replay.

About this lesson

Mail merge combines a main document with a data source. In Word 2024 / Microsoft 365 the data source is usually an Excel list with headings in row 1 and one record per row. On the Mailings tab, Start Mail Merge chooses letters, e-mails, envelopes or labels, Select Recipients connects the list, Insert Merge Field places «First», «Amount» and other placeholders in the letter, Preview Results shows the real data, and Finish & Merge produces one personalised letter per person, printed, saved as a document or sent by e-mail. The full course adds Address Block and Greeting Line, If…Then…Else rules, number and date formats, labels and envelopes.

Key points

  • Data source: an Excel list
  • Merge fields are placeholders
  • Preview, then Finish & Merge