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What Is Mail Merge in Word?

This handy tool can save you hours of time

By James Marshall James Marshall Writer James Marshall is a pro journalist who covers technology and computer troubleshooting. He is also skilled with Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, and other word processors. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on March 1, 2022 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email MS Office Word Excel Powerpoint Outlook Mail merge is a Microsoft Word tool that allows you to easily modify one part of a document with unique data elements.

How Mail Merge Works

Mail merge works by linking a database to your document. The database contains the unique elements (Sue, Jack, Peggy, etc.) and the document is your letter, invoice, label set, or another file. Mail merge saves you time and effort because it automates the process of entering one unique piece of data into a document. For example, say you want to write a holiday letter and send it to 20 people. You can write the letter and create a mail merge to print it with 20 different salutations (Dear Sue, Dear Jack, Dear Peggy, etc.). How to Create Mail Merge Letters in Word

Mail Merge Uses

You can use mail merge to create any type of printed document, as well as electronic documents. Here are some examples of document types: CatalogsInventoriesInvoicesLabelsEnvelopesAnd, of course, letters In addition to saving you time, mail merge can boost the effectiveness of the documents you create. For example, by customizing letters with specific names or other elements, you present a polished, personal image.

Anatomy of a Mail Merge

As mentioned above, mail merge consists of two main parts: the document and the data source or database.​ Word simplifies your work by enabling you to use other Office applications such as Excel or Outlook as data sources. If you have the full Office suite, it's easy and convenient to use one of those applications as your data source. For example, you can use contacts that you've already entered into Outlook, saving yourself the trouble of re-entering them in Word. An existing Excel spreadsheet gives you even greater flexibility with your data. If you only have Word, you can still use the mail merge feature. Word has the ability to create its own fully customizable data source.

Setting Up a Mail Merge

A mail merge may seem complicated and complex. However, Word simplifies the setup for common uses with wizards that walk you through the process of linking your document to a database. Generally, you can complete the entire process in fewer than 10 steps, including finding and correcting errors. That's fewer than preparing your document manually would take and with much less time and hassle. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire How to Create Mail Merge Letters in Word How to Use Microsoft Word How to Print Labels from Excel How to Merge and Unmerge Cells in Excel How to Make Flashcards on Word How to Hyperlink in Word Documents How to Plan and Create WordPerfect Templates How to Remove a Page Break in Word How to Insert Comments in Word Perform a Microsoft Word Mail Merge From Within Excel What Is Data Mining? How to Add a Degree Symbol in Word How to Insert Source Code Into a Word Document How to Embed Excel Files in Word Documents How to Show the Ruler in Word The 10 Best Free Word Processing Apps for iPad (2022) Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies