In our example we will insert member names and addresses.įirst of all position the cursor where you want the address to appear on your letter. We’re going to keep things very simple and we’re just going to insert the most basic information. To do this, we will insert merge fields in the main document. We now need to tell Word what personal details to add to the letter and where. We’re going to assume that you want to send your letter to everyone on your list, but if you want to, you can select only certain entries from the list. Now that you have established the link between your document and mailing list, save the document. If the first row in your spreadsheet is a header row, make sure that you check the box to say so. Select the sheet that contains your data and click OK. In our example, we have an Excel Spreadsheet, so navigate to where that is and select it. We’re going to assume you have a mailing list ready to use, although you can create one on the fly. Go to the Mailings tab and click Select Recipients in the Start Mail Merge Group. We recommend that you create the mailing list before you commence the merge though, so for this example we’ll assume you have an Excel spreadsheet that contains names and address that you want to mail the letter to. If you don’t have a mailing list when you begin the mail merge, you can get Word 2016 to create one during the merge. It contains the personalised details that will be combined with the document. Your mailing list can be stored in a variety of different locations, such as an Excel spreadsheet, an Access database, a directory of Outlook contacts, or an Office address list. Now we will link the letter to your mailing list. Once it’s ready, you will then tell Word the type of mail merge you are about to start: go to the Mailings tab and click Start Mail Merge > Letters. You should prepare your document before you start the mail merge, so type that out and save it now. The three files involved in the mail merge process are: Each letter produced will be identical, apart from the personalised portions. Your mailing list would be the list of members’ names and addresses, and the preprepared letter would be a letter informing them of the AGM. For example, you might be part of an organisation that has a list of members and you want to let them know about an upcoming Annual General Meeting.