How do I merge an excel file with a microsoft word letter?

Question

I need to find out how to merge a contact list on excel onto a letter in microsoft word. Can anyone help me?

Answer 1

tall barbie has done the job.

Still .. :)

Type the letter.

Save the file. and have the excel data file handy.. where you can locate it easily.

Go to mail merge in the word file of yours.

the wizard helps you to do it.

Select all the headers one by one (that's what i do) they are highlighted when they appear in the document.

Now cut paste them in the word document at right place. delete unwanted header (in word)

Complete the merge.. it will create no of pages of the same letter as no of records that you have.

Prefer to save it separately, so you can use the same file again.

==

What if  it does not work?

It never works for the 1st time, so do not panic.

check your excel data

your headers should start in A1 and should go till end in A row.

Do not leave a blank cell in row A

Do not have same header to 2 columns. ( not a big problem though)

No blank row.

And 1st attempt.. do not work under pressure, do it when you have plenty of time.

And take a friend along with so that you have support.

Answer 2

Which version of Word & Excel?  Let's assume 2003.

First, make sure in Excel the data you want to merge with Word is in a table format, with column headings - for instance:

FName    LName         Years Worked         DOB

Bob         Smith           24                          3/21/1965

John        Jones           22                          4/16/1972

Your data & column headings will most likely be different, but that's not important as long as the data is set up correctly.

In Word, let's assume you have a letter you want to send to the contacts in Excel, thanking them for their years of service.  The Word letter might look like this:

(This is where the first and last name fields will go):

We would like to thank you for your (this is where the number of years worked field will go) years of service to our company and congratulate you on your upcoming retirement.

Sincerely,

You need to do a mail merge in Word to bring in the name and years worked from the Excel file.

Run Word and open the letter file.  

Next, select Tools, Letters and Mailings, Mail Merge - you should see the Mail Merge task pane on the right side - make sure "Letters" is selected (it's the default, so it should already be there)

Click the Next:Starting Document at the bottom of that task pane

"Use the Current Document" should already be selected (if not, do it)

Click Next:Select Recipients

"Use an Existing List" should already be selected (if not, do it)

Click the Browse..... option

In the "Select Data Source" window, change the "Files of Type" to Excel Files (*.xls) and browse to where you've stored your Excel file with the data.

Select your Excel file and click Open - you may need to identify which sheet contains the data - let's assume it's sheet 1

Click OK

Use the Select All button to select all your records - or you can individually choose the records to use - turn on/off the check mark by the record on the left side.

Click OK when you've selected the records you need

Click Next:Write your letter in the task pane

Position your cursor where the first and last names need to be merged into your letter (again, using my example, which might not match what you are doing).

Click "More Items" in the task pane - because in our example, we aren't using an address block but, if you were, you could choose that first - we're simply inserting the first and last names.

Double-Click on FName and then double-click on LName to insert those fields.

Click the Close button.

Position between the two fields (<<FName>><<LName>>) and press your spacebar so there's a space between the fields (should end up looking like this -  <<FName>> <<LName>>.

Position your cursor where the number of years worked needs to be inserted.

Click the "More Items"

Double-click the Years Worked field

Click the Close button

That should do it - you're ready to merge

Click on the Next:Preview your letters in the task pane

Click on the Next:Complete the merge

You're done

There are a bunch more options for merging but this is a very simple explanation for a very simple merge. Hope it works for you.