How to Use an Existing List of Contacts With a Word Mail Merge to Create Individual Letters Tailored For Each Recipient

If you have an existing list of contacts, you can use it with a word mail merge to create individual letters tailored for each recipient. It's a great way to send a large number of personalized emails at once, but it can be a little daunting for the uninitiated.

First, open an Excel spreadsheet with your contact information. This should be a spreadsheet where your contact details are stored in separate columns, each with column headings and the fields you need to include for your mail merge.

Click Use an Existing List to add your contact list from Excel, or click Choose a new list and select an Excel file that you've created yourself. If you don't have an Excel workbook, you can also use your Outlook contact list (if connected to Word).

Then, start the word mail merge process in Word by clicking Mail Merge Wizard in the Tools menu. The wizard will take you through a step-by-step process, and you can customize it for your needs at any time.

Once the process is complete, you can view all the merged documents in the main document, or select Edit Individual Documents to put them into a new document for further editing. Or, you can select Print Documents to print the merged letter and send it by email.

You can also add mail merge fields to your Word template to personalize the letters you create. For example, you can add an address block to the top of your letters or a greeting line in the body of your letter. You can also insert merge fields that pull data from your Excel spreadsheet into the document.