How To Use The Mail Merge Feature For Envelopes

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

If you need to repeatedly create Name & Address letter headings, labels and/or envelopes for a list of, different, people/clients you may want to investigate the Mail Merge feature of Microsoft Office 2007 (and 2010). It 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 sticky labels, envelopes and letter headings.

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 sticky labels and so on for you whereby each sticky label for example is auto-matically filled in with one of your corresponding contact's details. So if your contacts list contains 20 Names & Addresses microsoft word can create a sheet of 20 sticky labels for you, with each sticky 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 ENVELOPES 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 envelope 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 envelope's size and formatting, by clicking on the ENVELOPE OPTIONS link, but this can be done in the next step (Step 3). Hence why you should not click on the ENVELOPE 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 ENVELOPE OPTIONS window will appear (below), as just mentioned above, whereby you can change the size of the current blank a4 sized document into the size of a blank envelope.

Fig 1.6  The ENVELOPE OPTIONS window allows you to change the current a4 document to an envelope size

Clicking on the ENVELOPE SIZE drop-down menu allows you to change the size of the current envelope, and therefore the size of the current blank document, and clicking on the PRINTING OPTIONS Tab allows you to change printer options relating to the way the envelope is fed into the tray of your printer.

Fig 1.7  The ENVELOPE OPTIONS window allows you to change printer options for the current envelope size

The envelope options will more than likely be a case of Trial & Error with regards to the way envelopes are fed into your particular printer's tray. Meaning, you may have to do a couple of test prints before you are sure which way around to feed your printer envelopes. Regardless of this though; For now just click on the OK button, with the default envelope options selected, to change the current a4 sized document into a Size 10 envelope sized document (Fig 1.8 below). Step 3 will then be ready.

Step 3 (below) requires a you to select a list of recipients (contacts list) whose name and address details will be printed on the envelopes. 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 1.8  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 envelope 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 1.9  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 envelope printing, if they are not already selected, and deselect (untick) those you don't need. They are all selected by default!

Fig 1.10  Select the contacts (recipients) you need for envelope printing and Deselect 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 1.8 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) click on the NEXT: ARRANGE YOUR ENVELOPE link to continue to step 4 (Fig 1.12 below).

Fig 1.11  Step 3: Click on the NEXT: ARRANGE YOUR ENVELOPE link to continue to step 4

Step 4 (below) allows you to insert name and address details into the envelope, but before I show you how to do that you have to locate the hidden text box where those details will be inserted. The text box has its borders and background set to Transparent by default, hence why it is invisible, but is easy to make visible.

Hover your mouse pointer around the bottom-middle area of the envelope space until the it changes into a cross/anchor mouse pointer, denoting you have hovered over one of the text box borders, and then click and hold down the click. This will activate the text box and at the same time make it visible, allowing you to roughly center the text box by dragging its border into the center of the envelope space.

Fig 1.12  Step 4: Make the text box visible and then center it - drag its border around the envelope space

With the text box roughly centered you now need to click inside it (Fig 1.13 below) ready for the insertion of text. In this case, name and address text/details. From there, go to the task pane and click on the ADDRESS BLOCK link (Fig 1.13 below) to bring up the Insert Address Block window (Fig 1.14 below).

Fig 1.13  Step 4: Click on the ADDRESS BLOCK link to bring up the Insert Address Block window

The Insert Address Block window allows you to view and change the text/label formatting options for the inserted text (i.e. name and address text). For this example though, to keep things simple, just click on the OK button with the default settings in place.

Fig 1.14  Select your preferred text format, if need be, and then click on the OK button to continue

Clicking on the OK button inserts the text AddressBlock (below). This is a code marker that microsoft word uses in place of each row of data associated with your contacts list, and more precisely its name and address details. As you will see in the next step (Step 5), that AddressBlock code marker is replaced by the names and addresses within your contacts list for each envelope produced/printed. For now though, click on the NEXT: PREVIEW YOUR ENVELOPES link to go to step 5.

Fig 1.15  Click on the NEXT: PREVIEW YOUR ENVELOPES link to go to step 5

Before clicking on the NEXT: PREVIEW YOUR ENVELOPES link (above) you could insert more details onto the envelope using the GREETING LINE link (i.e. insert Dear Sir/Madam), the MORE ITEMS link (i.e. insert a Telephone Number) and the standard INSERT Tab (i.e. insert a Photo). Obviously some of these extra items are not applicable to an envelope, as they are meant for a letter heading, but that does not prevent you from investigating and experimenting with those link options.

Remember, many of those items can come from your contacts list; which can be customized with your own headings and details....so you could have Return Address details for example.

Step 5 (below) allows you to preview what each envelope will look like when printed. Simply use the LEFT and RIGHT Arrow buttons to navigate between each envelope preview. You can also change the font, colour, etc of the envelope text using the standard formatting tools on the HOME Tab of the ribbon. When you have finished adding details and/or formatting the envelope text, if need be, click on the NEXT: COMPLETE THE MERGE link to go to step 6 and therefore complete the mail merge process.

Fig 1.16  Click on the RIGHT ARROW button to preview the next envelope details

Step 6 (below) is the final step. It allows you to print your envelopes and save the envelopes (envelope templates) as a word document if need be. Clicking on the PRINT link will start the printing process whereas clicking on the EDIT INDIVIDUAL ENVELOPES link will allow you to see every envelope as a separate page in a new word document thereby allowing you to further edit and save that new, envelope, word document.

So to clarify. If you have 1,000 envelopes with 1,000 different names and addresses on them, word will create a new document consisting of 1,000 envelope sized pages. Or put another way, a 1,000 page word document with a different envelope template (name and address) on each page. That 1,000 page word document could then be saved as envelopes.docx for example.

Fig 1.17  Click on the PRINT link to start the printing process




Fig 1.18  Select how many envelopes (names and addresses) you want to print




Fig 1.19  Select your printer, if need be, and then click on the OK button to start printing the envelopes

When you click on the PRINT link (Fig 1.17 above) a requester appears (Fig 1.18) that asks you if you want to print ALL of the envelopes, the CURRENTly displayed envelope or a RANGE (i.e. FROM 1 TO 10) of envelopes only. In this example I have kept things simple and will be printing ALL 3 of my envelopes.

Having decided how many envelopes you want printing, the standard PRINTER requester appears (Fig 1.19 above). 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 envelopes 10 times) you can do so with this printer requester - it has nothing to do with your envelope in terms of the above mail merge wizard. You could even cancel printing for example.

SAVE  THE  ENVELOPES  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 envelopes! So to get around that scenario you would simply save the completed envelopes into a separate word document, as described above, by clicking on the EDIT INDIVIDUAL ENVELOPES link instead of the PRINT link. From there you would save the newly created envelope document, with all your envelopes inside it, as envelopes.docx for example in the normal way.

Fig 1.20  You can save this newly created, envelope, word document as envelopes.docx for example

Below I have edited the envelope template in Fig 1.16 with font, colour and photo changes, so you can see what I mean by customization of your envelopes. This method of changing the envelope template means all of the other envelopes (envelope templates) inherit the same changes. However, if I wanted to change only one envelope (i.e. envelope number two) I would do that by creating a separate envelope word document using the EDIT INDIVIDUAL ENVELOPES link.

Fig 1.21  Customization of the envelope template means all envelopes inherit the same changes

In the next section I will be showing you how to mail merge using the Letter template. It is ideal for create multiple Letters or CVs for example.