Microsoft Word 2007

Mail Merge: Creating an Email Merge

Mail Merge to email combines the personalization of form letters with the easy delivery of email. For example, advisors may send a personalized email to all of their advisees containing information regarding the date of their next visit. This email merge will only work on those computers set up with Microsoft Outlook.

These instructions assume that you have an understanding of the Word Mail Merge process. If you need more information, refer to Mail Merge: An Overview.

The starting document contains the text for the email message with field references to the recipient list.

NOTE: If your starting document includes active hyperlinks and you want them to remain active in the email message, you should type the complete URL, rather than linking representative text (e.g., http://www.uwec.edu rather than UW-Eau Claire.) This will ensure that, regardless of the email format, the link will be preserved once the starting document is merged to email.

Open a blank Word document
From the Mailings tab, in the Start Mail Merge group, click START MAIL MERGE
The Start Mail Merge sub-menu appears.
Select E-mail Messages
In the Start Mail Merge group, click SELECT RECIPIENTS » select Use Existing List...

The Select Data Source dialog box appears.
From the Look in pull-down list, locate and select the file you will use for your list
Click OPEN
To select the recipient(s) you want to include in your mail merge,
1. In the Start Mail Merge group, click EDIT RECIPIENT LIST
2. Select the recipients
  NOTE: A recipient is selected if the checkbox beside their entry is selected.
3. Click OK
  NOTE: To edit the recipient information, refer to Working with the Recipients List.
If you have not already done so, in your document, type your message
To insert merge fields,
1. Position the insertion point at the proper place in your document
2. In the Write & Insert Fields group, click INSERT MERGE FIELD » select the desired field
When finished, click PREVIEW RESULTS
A preview of your first recipient appears.
NOTE: For more information on editing the recipient information, refer to Working with the Recipients List.
OPTIONAL: To preview your document with other recipients' information, in the Preview Results section, click the arrows
Click FINISH & MERGE » select Send E-mail Messages...

The Merge to E-mail dialog box appears.
From the To pull-down list, select the field that contains the email addresses
In the Subject line text box, type a subject
From the Mail format pull-down list, select the desired format for your message
NOTE: To avoid being alerted on every record regarding an Outlook security measure, select HTML.
Under Send records, select which record(s) you want to include: All or Current Record
OR
To select only certain records, type in the appropriate values in the From and To text boxes
Click OK
The email messages are now sent to your recipient(s).