How to Use Mail Merge in Word to Create Letters, Labels, and Envelopes

Mail merge is a Microsoft Word feature that helps you streamline creating personalized letters, labels, envelopes, emails, and a directory. Since mail merge is not among the most commonly used MS Word features, some users might not know how to do a mail merge in Word to create letters, labels, and envelopes.

If you’re trying to save time spent on manually personalizing each letter, label, or other documents, mail merge can come in handy. Even if you’ve never tried to create a mail merge letter, the process is pretty straightforward, and we walk you through each step below.

How to Create Mail Merge Letters

Microsoft Word has a wizard that walks you through creating mail merge letters. The wizard will ask for the letter you’d like to use and the recipients of the letter along the way, so make sure you have a list of recipients ready to insert. If you don’t, no biggie, you can always add a list of recipients manually.

Navigate to the sheet containing the list of recipients using the explorer, select the sheet and selectOpen.

When you select the sheet, you’ll see theSelect Tablewindow. Select the relevant table(s). Be sure to check the box beside the textFirst row of data contains column headersif that’s true for your data, and selectOK.

Next, you’ll see the list of recipients that Word will use in your merge. If everything looks good, selectOK.

When you’ve added the Excel sheet, selectNext: Write your letter.

TheInsert Merge Fielddialog box will open from where you can select the relevant placeholder and selectInsertto add it to your letter.

This will show you a preview of all letters generated with mail merge. You can use arrow buttons in the mail merge pane to switch the preview of letters.

How to Create Mail Merge Labels

It’s always a good idea to compile your mailing list tidily in an Excel sheet so you don’t feel dizzy when you need someone’s mailing details. However, if you want to print the labels, your Excel sheet compilation won’t cut it. Instead, you’ll need tocreate mail merge labelson MS Word.

Once you selectOK, you’ll see the labels outlined on your document. If you don’t, go toTable Design>Bordersand selectView Gridlines.

Navigate to the Excel file containing the mail list. Select the file and selectOpen.

If it doesn’t look like how you want it, selectMatch Fields.Make sure that all details correspond to an appropriate header from your worksheet and selectOK.

Look at the preview again. If it looks good, selectOK.

You’ll see a small window pop up. SelectAlland thenOK.

How to Create Mail Merge Envelopes

Creating mail merge envelopes is mostly the same as that for labels, but with a few tweaks.

Again, click onMailings>Start Mail Merge>Step-by-Step Mail Merge Wizard, but this time, selectEnvelopesand then selectNext: Starting documentfrom the bottom.

You’ll now see«AddressBlock»appear on the envelope.

Your envelopes are now ready to be merged. SelectNext: Complete the merge.

You’ll now see all envelopes merged into a single document.

Bulk Printing and Emails Made Easy

Using mail merge can save you a ton of time you’d otherwise spend customizing your letters, labels, or envelopes. That’s not all you can do with MS Word, though. You can also creategreeting cards,booklets, and index cards.

Mail merge has been around for a while, but if you’re looking to make your processes efficient, Microsoft Office 2019 introduced some neat features you may want to look at.

Arjun is a freelance writer based in India. After working as an equity research analyst, Arjun decided to do something that he has been passionate about – tech. He gets excited talking about and explaining how to solve everyday tech problems. His area of expertise is Windows and is a go-to for all things Excel.Read Arjun’s Full Bio

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How to Use Mail Merge in Word to Create Letters, Labels, and Envelopes#

How to Create Mail Merge Letters#

How to Create Mail Merge Labels#

How to Create Mail Merge Envelopes#

Bulk Printing and Emails Made Easy#