Mail Merge Email with Excel and Word

Sending out a mailing using Word and Excel is perfectly doable, even for users with basic knowledge. In this article, we’ll explain step-by-step how to create and send a mail merge—either by post or by email.

Step 1: Creating an address list

• Open Microsoft Excel
• Create a spreadsheet with the fields you want to use in your mailing
• Also include any fields you want to filter by, even if they won’t be printed
• Add a column for the salutation to prevent formatting issues or extra spaces
• Save the file
  

  

• If you plan to send the mailing via email, make sure to include a column with the email addresses
• To save time, you can download this sample file
  

  

Step 2: Creating the mailing

• Open your standard letter (template) in Word
• Write the body content of your mailing
  

  

• The fields from your address list still need to be inserted

Step 3: Link the address list and insert merge fields

• Click where you want to insert a merge field
• For example, we’ll insert the salutation field
  

  

• Go to the Mailings tab
  

  

• Select Start Mail Merge
  

  

• Choose Step-by-Step Mail Merge Wizard
  

  

• The wizard will open on the right-hand side
• For email mailings, choose E-mail messages
  

  

• Click Next: Starting document
  

  

• Choose Use the current document
  

  

• Click Next: Select recipients
  

  

• Since we’ve already entered addresses in Excel, select Use an existing list
• Click Browse to locate and connect the Excel file
  

  

• Locate and select your Excel file
  

  

• If prompted to confirm the data source, choose OLE DB Database Files and click OK
  

  

• Select the worksheet that contains your data. It’s helpful to rename sheets and remove empty tabs beforehand
• In this example, we choose Sheet1$
  

  

• Word will now display the selected data
• Click OK
  

  

• Click Next: Write your email message
  

  

Step 4: Insert merge fields in Word

• Now insert the merge fields from the Excel sheet
• Select the spot in the document where you want to place a field
• Click Insert Merge Field
  

  

• You’ll see the available Excel fields
• Select the correct field
  

  

• The merge field will appear between special characters in the document
  

  

• Repeat this process for all necessary fields
• To preview the results, click Preview Results
  

  

• Once all fields are inserted, click Next: Preview your email
  

  

• You’ll now see the merged result
• Click Next: Complete the merge
  

  

• Click Electronic Mail
  

  

• Select the field containing the email addresses from the Excel sheet
• Add a subject line for the email
  

  

• Click OK
• The mailing will be sent via Outlook