How To Use The Mail Merge Feature For Labels

Use A Names & Addresses (Contacts) File To Auto-Fill Your Labels

If you need to repeatedly create the same label for the same person or create labels for a list of different people you may want to investigate the Mail Merge feature of Microsoft Office 2007 (and 2010) and the Labels feature in general. The labels mail merge feature allows you to use a Contacts List, made from an Excel File or C.S.V (Comma Separated Values) File for example, in order to create mass labels.

Mail Merge is ideal if you are in business whereby you need to send out plenty of promotional letters to a list of potential customers or have a christmas/wedding list whereby you need to create mass sticky labels for it. There are many other uses for a mail merge but the point here is you can let microsoft office do the bulk of the work for you.

You only need to create, or supply it, your contacts list. Once it has your contacts list loaded microsoft word can then create labels and so on for you whereby each label for example is automatically filled in with one of your corresponding contact's details. So if your contacts list contains 20 Names & Addresses microsoft word can create 20 labels for you, on a separate sheet of labels for example, with each label containing the name and address of its corresponding contacts list entry.

THE  CONTACTS  LIST

In this first example I will assume you have a contacts list to use, either from an exported address book (c.s.v) file or from an excel file. If not, don't worry, you can use (download) this example excel file called mail_merge.xlsx that I have created for this example. Your file can be called what ever you like because it's name is unimportant. The important thing is its content.

Fig 1.0  A standard contacts list created in Microsoft Excel for mail merge purposes

As you can see from the above screenshot; My contacts list is very small, and basic, and was created using Microsoft Excel only. It's this file that is loaded into Microsoft Word in order to then use/merge its content (names and addresses) onto sticky labels, letter headings and envelopes. You can have more headings (i.e. telephone, e-mail address, etc) and contacts in your file, if need be, but here I have kept things simple.

One important thing to point out here is that you need to create headings (title, name, etc) for your contacts, as these are used to identify and separate your contact details (explained below).

So with a contacts list (excel file) created the next thing to do is open (run/execute) Microsoft Word and run its Mail Merge Wizard. The wizard is a step-by-step guide that helps to automate certain tasks, as opposed to you having to manually do (figure out) those tasks (which is where many people get stuck).

THE  MAIL  MERGE  WIZARD

Begin by opening microsoft word and from the HOME Tab click on the MAILINGS Tab. Tabs are the headings on the Ribbon such as HOME, INSERT, PAGE LAYOUT and so on. Doing so will display the tools and features associated with the MAILINGS Tab (Fig 1.2 below).

Fig 1.1  Open (run/execute) Microsoft Word and then click on the MAILINGS Tab

Once you are on the MAILINGS Tab (Fig 1.2 below) click on the drop-down menu button called START MAIL MERGE, which will then expose the mail merge menu-items, and select the option (menu-item) called STEP BY STEP MAIL MERGE WIZARD. The MAIL MERGE Task Pane will then appear on the right-side of the main display window (Fig 1.3).

Fig 1.2  Click on the START MAIL MERGE button and select the STEP BY STEP MAIL MERGE WIZARD option




Fig 1.3  The MAIL MERGE Task Pane with tasks on it that are dedicated to the mail merge feature

As its name suggests, a task pane is a window pane with dedicated tasks on it - Links to other tasks, features and tools that are associated with the current task (in this case the mail merge task). The wizard displayed this window pane (task pane) in order to show its 6 Steps of guidance - If you look towards the bottom of the task pane you will see STEP 1 OF 6. These are the wizard's guidance/help steps which you need to follow in order to create a mail merge.

Step 1 (the current step) allows you to select which type of mail merge you require - LETTERS, E-MAIL MESSAGES, ENVELOPES, LABELS or DIRECTORY. By default LETTERS is selected, but in this example (Fig 1.3 above) you need to select the LABELS option and then click on the link called NEXT: STARTING DOCUMENT, located at the bottom of the task pane (Fig 1.4 below), in order to proceed to the next step (Step 2).

Fig 1.4  After selecting your mail merge option click on the link called NEXT: STARTING DOCUMENT

Step 2 (below) asks you for a Starting Document, which is the document you would like to work with for this labels mail merge. You could select the option called START FROM EXISTING DOCUMENT but that would cause you confusion as it involves opening a new document and using it as a template. So to keep things simple just leave the default option selected (CHANGE DOCUMENT LAYOUT) and continue by clicking on the link called NEXT: SELECT RECIPIENTS.

Before clicking on the link called NEXT: SELECT RECIPIENTS (below) you could change the labels template (i.e. label size and formatting), by clicking on the LABELS OPTIONS link, but this can be done in the next step (Step 3). Hence why you should not click on the LABELS OPTIONS link in this step (step 2).

Fig 1.5  Leave CHANGE DOCUMENT LAYOUT selected - Click on NEXT: SELECT RECIPIENTS to continue

When you click on the NEXT: SELECT RECIPIENTS link (above) the LABELS OPTIONS window will appear (below), as just mentioned above, whereby you can change the label template vendor (manufacturer) and label size amongst other things.

Sticky labels these days are produced on physical pieces of paper, usually A4 in size, that have been purposely templated (formatted/sized) to work with programs such as Microsoft Word 2010. You can buy them in boxes from stationery shops such as WH Smith and Ryman or as separate sheets of paper from your local stationery shop.

The sticky labels come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and are produced by companies such as Microsoft and Avery. One sheet of physical a4 paper may contain up to 65 sticky labels, depending on the dimensions of each sticky label, and should have a product number on the top and bottom of it which Microsoft Word 2010 will use to display the sticky label dimensions and use to produce the correct sticky label template (label document). For example, selecting Avery and L7651 will produce a label template (label document) that accommodates 65 small sticky labels.

With the LABEL OPTIONS window open you can change the label vendor and product number - In this example I changed the label vendor from MICROSOFT to AVERY (using the LABEL VENDORS drop-down menu), which then allowed me to change the AVERY Product Number to L7651 (using the PRODUCT NUMBER Listview preview pane). This is because the physical a4 piece of paper I am using, with 65 small sticky labels on it, is marked as AVERY L7651. Once the label details have been changed you simply click on the OK button to continue.

Fig 1.6  The LABEL OPTIONS window allows you to change the current template used for sticky labels

As you can see from the above screenshot; When you supply a specific label vendor and product number the LABEL OPTIONS window then displays the dimensions of the actual, physical, sticky labels. In other words, if you measure any one of the physical sticky labels you will find they match these dimensions perfectly. This is because WORD 2010 is preprogrammed with the correct dimensions for hundreds of sticky label templated sheets of paper. This means WORD 2010 can produce a label template (label document) based on the exact size of the physical Avery A4 L7651 sheet of paper with sticky labels on it.

Step 3 (below) requires a you to select a list of recipients (contacts list) whose name and address details will be printed on each sticky label. The recipients can come from a Microsoft Outlook contacts list, from an existing contacts list (i.e. from an excel file) or from a contacts list that you type out. In this example use the mail_merge.xlsx excel file as your contacts list - Click on the BROWSE link to locate it.

Fig 1.7  Click on the BROWSE link to locate and open the mail_merge.xlsx excel file

When you open the mail_merge.xlsx excel file the following requester appears displaying all of the data sheets in that file. It is important to leave the first sheet (Sheet1$) selected as the contacts list in that sheet will be used as the recipient data. Not only that, the other two sheets are empty. So selecting either one of them would mean you using an empty contacts list.

The option called FIRST ROW OF DATA CONTAINS COLUMN HEADERS should be ticked. It tells the mail merge feature that the first row of data in Sheet1$ contains headings (i.e. Title, Name and Address) that are associated with the column data (i.e. the actual titles, names and addresses). And furthermore that the first row of data should only be used as headings and not as actual letter data (i.e. not as actual name and address details).

If you untick this option microsoft word will take the first row of data as the data to be used for headings, regardless if that first row of data contains headings or actual name and address details.

For this example keep things simple and just leave everything set to their default settings - Sheet1$ selected and FIRST ROW OF DATA CONTAINS COLUMN HEADERS ticked - Click on the OK button to continue.

Fig 1.8  With Sheet1$ selected, and FIRST ROW OF DATA..... ticked, click on the OK button to continue.

When you click on the OK button the contacts (recipients) will be displayed/listed in the next window (below) whereby you can select or deselect certain contacts from the list before clicking on its OK button to return to the main window of step 3. Simply select (tick) the contacts (recipients) you need for letter printing, if they are not already selected, and deselect (untick) those you don't need. They are all selected by default!

Fig 1.9  Select (Tick) the contacts (recipients) you need for letter printing and Deselect (Untick) any others

With your needed contacts selected, click on the OK button (above) to return to the main window of step 3 - The window you have just used to BROWSE for your contacts list file (Fig 1.7 above). It is easy to forget which window and step you came from with all these optional windows (extra steps) popping up, but it's these kind of things you have to remember and pay attention to if you want to succeed.

So with the main window of step 3 back in view (below) you will notice it has changed slightly! It now has the NextRecord field (marker) inside each area (space) that will hold a physical sticky label. Ignore this information for now though and just click on the NEXT: ARRANGE YOUR LABELS link to continue to step 4 (Fig 1.11 below).

Fig 1.10  Step 3: Click on the NEXT: ARRANGE YOUR LABELS link to continue to step 4

Step 4 (below) is the most involved step. There are a few things you need to do in this step in order to make everything work, so pay attention!

Begin by clicking inside the first (empty) label area, located in the top-left corner of the template, to select it; if it's not already selected, for whatever reason(s). Note the flashing cursor. This is where you are going to insert your initial label data, such as Address data, and if necessary change its format/style. This initial label data, and its changed format/style if applicable, will later be inherited by the other label areas. All will become clear soon!

Fig 1.11  Step 4: Make sure the first (empty) label area is selected, ready for data editing/insertion.

With the first label area selected the next thing to do is insert some data into it, usually Address data, which can later be printed onto the physical sticky labels. However, for this example I am going to create a Name Only set of sticky labels by first clicking on the MORE ITEMS link (Fig 1.12 below).

Normally you would click on the ADDRESS BLOCK link to insert the Address Block field (marker) but here I am clicking on the MORE ITEMS link so that I can insert specific data, the Name field (marker), via the Insert Merge Field window that appears (Fig 1.13 below) after clicking on the MORE ITEMS link.

Fig 1.12  Click on the MORE ITEMS link to insert one or more items (i.e. the Name field)




Fig 1.13  Select the NAME field and then click on the INSERT button to insert the NAME field




Fig 1.14  Click on the CLOSE button when you have finished inserting items

After clicking on the MORE ITEMS link (Fig 1.12 above) you insert one or more specific fields (markers) into the first (empty) label area by selecting it from the FIELDS Listview preview pane (Fig 1.13 above). In this example I have only inserted one NAME field (marker), but I could of then inserted one TITLE field if I wanted to. Anyway, when you have finished inserting your desired fields simply click on the CLOSE button to close the Insert Merge Field window (Fig 1.14 above).

When the Insert Merge Field window closes you will be back on the labels area window (below) whereby the NAME field (marker) will now be showing inside the first label area only. To get all the other label areas to inherit, and therefore display, the NAME field you have to click on the UPDATE LABELS button.

Fig 1.15  Click on the UPDATE LABELS button so that the other label areas inherit the inserted NAME field

The UPDATE LABELS button refreshes the labels area window so that the other label areas state <<NextRecord>><<Name>> (below). This means the NAME field (marker) has now been inserted into those label areas.

To preview what the actual, physical, sticky labels will look like you need to click on the NEXT: PREVIEW YOUR LABELS link (below). This takes you to Step 5 (Fig 1.17 below).

Fig 1.16  The NAME field has now been inserted into the other label areas




Fig 1.17  Step 5: This is what the physical sticky labels will contain and look like

Assuming you are happy with the format/style of the labels click on the NEXT: COMPLETE THE MERGE link (below) to proceed to the printing and file options (Fig 1.19 below) and therefore complete the mail merge process.

If you are not happy with the format/style click on the PREVIOUS: ARRANGE YOUR LABELS link, reformat/restyle the first label only, click on the UPDATE LABELS button and then click on the NEXT: PREVIEW YOUR LABELS link again. In other words; Go back to step 4, rework your labels and then come back to this current step (step 5) and click on the NEXT: COMPLETE THE MERGE link.

Fig 1.18  Click on the NEXT: COMPLETE THE MERGE link to continue

The final step (Step 6 below) allows you to print your labels or save them as a word document (label template). Clicking on the PRINT link will start the printing process whereas clicking on the EDIT INDIVIDUAL LABELS link will allow you to see every label, on every sheet of labels, in a new word document thereby allowing you to further edit and save that new, labels, word document.

So to clarify. If you have 130 labels with 130 different names and addresses on them, word will create a new document consisting of 2 pages of labels with 65 labels on each page (assuming you are using AVERY L7651 of course).

SAVE  THE  LABELS  AS  A  WORD  DOCUMENT

After doing all the work above with the mail merge wizard you certainly wouldn't want to do it each time you needed to print labels! So to get around that scenario you would simply save the completed labels into a separate word document, as described above, by clicking on the EDIT INDIVIDUAL LABELS link instead of the PRINT link. From there you would save the newly created labels document, with all your labels inside it, as labels.docx for example in the normal way.

Fig 1.19  Click on the EDIT INDIVIDUAL LABELS link to save your labels as a word document




Fig 1.20  Select how many labels you want to save (merge) into the word document




Fig 1.21  The labels inside a newly created word document - Save it as a normal .docx file

Below I have edited one my three labels on one sheet with font, colour and photo changes, so you can see what I mean by customization of your labels. By doing your changes early on though, in step 4 (Fig 1.15 above and onwards) of the wizard for example, will mean all of the other labels inherit the same format/style changes.

Fig 1.22  Manual customization of three labels, without the aid of the mail merge wizard.

PRINT  THE  LABELS

To print the labels, using the mail merge wizard, you would click on the PRINT link instead of the EDIT INDIVIDUAL LABELS link. From there, you state how many labels sheets you want printing via the Merge To Printer requester that appears (below). It asks you if you want to print ALL of the labels, the CURRENTly selected label or a RANGE (i.e. FROM 1 TO 10) of labels only. In this example I have kept things simple and will be printing ALL 3 of my labels.

Fig 1.23  Select how many labels (names and addresses) you want to print

Having decided how many labels you want printing, the standard PRINTER requester appears (below). This is the standard requester from your printer and nothing to do with microsoft word. Meaning, if you want to use another printer and/or make 10 copies of the print job (i.e. print 3 labels 10 times) you can do so with this printer requester - it has nothing to do with your labels in terms of the above mail merge wizard. You could even cancel printing for example.

Fig 1.24  Select your printer, if need be, and then click on the OK button to start printing the labels