How to Create Mailing Labels by Using Mail Merge

A mail merge involves merging a main document with a data source. A main document contains the text and other items that remain the same in each label. A data source contains the information that changes in each label, such as the name and address of each recipient.

Merge fields, which you insert into the main document, instruct Word where to print information from the data source. When you perform the mail merge, Word replaces merge fields in the main document with information from the data source. Each row (or record) in the data source produces an individual label.

The following procedure demonstrates how to perform a mail merge to create labels.

Step 1: Main Document

Start a new document to create a new label, or open an existing document that was used previously to merge labels.

1. Open the document in Word. On the Tools menu, click Mail Merge. The Mail Merge Helper dialog box appears.
2. Under 1. Main document, click Create, and then click Mailing Labels.
3. Click Active Window. The active document becomes the Mail Merge main document. Word returns to the Mail Merge Helper.

Step 2: Data Source

The data source contains the information that can vary in each label.

1. Under 2. Data source, click Get Data.
2. Select the option to open an existing data source.
   1. In the Mail Merge Helper dialog box, click Get Data.
   2. Click Open Data Source.
   3. In the list of files in the Open Data Source dialog box, select the data source that you want to use, and then click Open. If the data source that you want is not in the list of files, click the appropriate drive and folder. Select the appropriate option in the List files of type box. Word displays a message to set up the main document.
   4. Click Set Up Main Document.

Step 3: Edit Main Document

1. If the Mail Merge Helper is not running, click Mail Merge on the Tools menu. In the Mail Merge Helper, click Setup under 1. Main document.
2. Word displays the Label Options dialog box. Click the type of printer (dot matrix or laser), the type of label product (such as Avery), and product number. If you are using a custom label, click Details, and then type the size of the label. Click OK.
3. Word displays the Create Label dialog box. The insertion point is blinking in the box under Sample Label. This is where you insert the merge fields to represent where on the label Word should print the information from the data source.
4. Click Insert Merge Field in the Create Label dialog box. Click the appropriate merge field. Make sure that you type any spaces or punctuation that you want between two merge fields or after a merge field.
5. When you have finished placing the merge fields on the sample label, click OK. This returns the focus to the Mail Merge Helper.

Step 4: Perform the Merge

1. Under 3. Merge the data with the document, click Merge.
   
   Word displays the Merge dialog box. (If you click the Query option instead of Merge, you have the option to select certain data records to participate in the merge or to sort the records in the data source.)
   
   
2. Under Merge to, click New Document to display the merged document on the screen. This allows you to view the labels before printing them. (Select Printer to send the labels directly to the printer.)
3. With New Document selected in Merge to, click Merge.
4. After the merged document appears on the screen, you can save it as a separate document, or you can print the merged document by clicking Print on the File menu, or you can do both.