Create and print mailing labels by using Mail Merge

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By using the Mail Merge Manager in Word, you can turn mailing addresses that are in an Excel sheet, Word document, or the Office Address Book into printable mailing labels. The following procedures show how to create a data source for the mail merge in Excel and then use the Mail Merge Manager in Word to print mailing labels.

Step 1: Create a recipient list in an Excel sheet

Each column in your Excel sheet contains a category of information, or data field — for example, name, street address, city, state, and postal code. The first row of cells, called the header record, contains the data field names. Each subsequent row contains one record, such as the name and address of a person.

Important

Make sure that the data is in listA series of sheet rows that contain related data, such as an invoice database or a set of client names and phone numbers. A list can be used as a database, in which rows are records and columns are fields. The first row of the list contains labels for the columns. format. Each column of data must have a label in the first row. There cannot be any blank rows or columns within the list.

Open Excel.
In the first row of the sheet, type a header record for your addresses.

For example, in the first column of the first row, type Name; in the second column, type Address; in the third column, type City; in the forth column, type State; and then in the fifth column, type Postal Code, so that your Excel sheet looks something like this:

Note Later, as you create the labels, you use the fields in the header record to specify what data goes where.
In the second row, type the name and address information for one recipient.

Add as many additional rows of addresses as you want. Your Excel sheet should now look something like this:
Click Save .
Type a name for the workbook — for example, addresses.

Remember where you save the sheet. You will need to know the location later.
Close the Excel workbook that contains your recipient list.

If you do not close the Excel workbook that contains your list, or if you reopen it before you finish the mail merge, you cannot complete the merge.

Step 2: Create a Word document for your labels

In Word, make sure that you have a new blank document open.
On the Tools menu, click Mail Merge Manager.
Under 1. Select Document Type, click Create New, and then click Labels.
Under Printer information, click the type of printer that you use.
On the Label products pop-up menu, click the manufacturer of your labels.

Tip For more label products, on the Label products pop-up menu, click Other.
Under Product number, click the type of label that you have, and then click OK.

Tip For information about the margins and other characteristics of a label, click Details.

Step 3: Locate your recipient list and edit your labels

In the Mail Merge Manager, under 2. Select Recipients List, click Get List, and then click Open Data Source.
Locate the Excel workbook with the addresses that you created in Step 1, and double-click it.

Note When a message prompts you to open the workbook with a workbook text converter, click OK.
Click the arrow next to the Open Document in Workbook box, and then select the sheet that contains the addresses that you created in Step 1.
Make sure that Entire Worksheet appears in the Cell Range box, and then click OK.
On the Insert Merge Field pop-up menu, click each of the following fields in this sequence: Name, Address, City, State, and Postal_Code.
Under Sample Label, edit the merge fields to appear the way that you want.

For example, press RETURN after the Name field, after the Address field, and after the State field, and then type a space between the City and State fields and between the State and Postal_Code fields.
Click OK.

In the document, edit the labels the way that you want. For example, you can apply bold or italic formatting to the text placeholders.

	Tip
	To format all the labels the same way, change the first label, and then in the Mail Merge Manager, under 2. Select Recipients List, click Fill in the items to complete your document . To add the same picture to all the labels, insert a picture on the first label, and then in the Mail Merge Manager, under 2. Select Recipients List, click Fill in the items to complete your document .

Step 4: Filter and sort recipients (optional)

You can filter and sort the recipients from your recipient list. For example, your recipient list may include addresses from several states. If you want to create mailing labels only for your contacts in Washington state, you can filter the recipient list to show only Washington state residents. You can also sort your labels by, for example, the postal code.

In the Mail Merge Manager, under 4. Filter Recipients, click Options.
Click the Filter Records tab.
Under Field, on the first pop-up menu, click the field that you want — for example, State.
Under Comparison, on the first pop-up menu, click the option that you want — for example, Equal to.
Under Compare to, in the first text box, type the field value that you want — for example, WA.
Click the Sort Records tab.

Under Sort by, on the pop-up menu, click the option that you want — for example, Postal_Code — and then click Ascending.
Click OK.

Step 5: Preview results (optional)

To make sure that the mailing labels appear the way you want before you print them, you can preview how the labels will look with the data. While you preview the results, you can change the layout and formatting of the labels.

In the Mail Merge Manager, under 5. Preview Results, click View Merged Data .

Step 6: Complete the merge and print the labels

In Mail Merge Manager, under 6. Complete Merge, on the pop-up menu, click All.

Tip To merge and print a specific range of labels, click Custom, and then type the range that you want.
Do one of the following:

To
Do this
Print your labels
Click Merge to Printer .
To save the merged labels in a new document to print later
Click Merge to New Document .

To	Do this
Print your labels	Click Merge to Printer .
To save the merged labels in a new document to print later	Click Merge to New Document .

See also
Create envelopes by using Mail Merge
Create mailing labels by using Mail Merge
Tutorial: Use Mail Merge to create a form letter

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