Mail Merge

Part 2- Data Source

Once we have chosen the main document, we must now choose the source. We can open a source from another location, such as a text file or Excel spreadsheet. We can also create our own data source. To do this, we click on the Get Data... button and choose Create Data Source from the menu.

The Create Data Source box then opens with a list of possible categories, or fields, to use.

If we do not need a particular field, we can select it and click on the Remove Field Name button. We can also type in the name of a field and hit [ENTER] to add that field to the list. For this example, we will only keep the FirstName, LastName, Address1, City, State, and PostalCode fields. We will then add a new field, called Job.

When we click on OK, the computer will prompt us to save the records as a Word document. (The computer will create a table to store the records.) We then have the option to add records to the data source, or edit the main document. This is the dialog box that comes up to enter the records.

We can use the [ENTER] or [TAB] keys to move from one field to the next. [ENTER] is recommended, since it will move on automatically to the next record at the end of the current record. At any point, we can click on the View Source button to see the records organized into their table. Once we are done, we can click on the OK button. You are then brought to the main document, where you can begin to <insert merge fields>.