Erin Wright Writing

Writing-Related Software Tutorials

How to Address Letters in Microsoft Word with Mail Merge from an Excel File (PC & Mac)

By

In our last tutorial, we used mail merge to print multiple envelopes in Microsoft Word from addresses stored in an Excel file. Today, we are going to use mail merge to insert names and addresses into letters in Microsoft Word also from data stored in an Excel file.

First, we will prepare the Excel file. Then, we will add the names and addresses to the letters using Word’s Mail Merge. Next, we will customize the name and address formatting. Finally, we will print the letters.

Plus, the bonus section at the end explains how to save mail merge letters for reuse.

Watch this tutorial in real-time on my YouTube channel:

Table of Contents

How to Prepare the Excel File

How to Add Names and Addresses Using Mail Merge

Start the Mail Merge

Choose the Recipients

Edit the Recipient List

Insert the Name Fields

Insert the Address Fields

Preview the Results

How to Customize the Name and Address Formatting

Reduce the Address Line Spacing

Change the Name and Address Font and Size

How to Print Mail Merge Letters

Bonus Section: How to Save Mail Merge Letters for Reuse

These steps apply to Word for Microsoft 365, Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac (Word for Mac), Word 2024, Word 2021, Word 2019, and Word 2016. These steps don’t apply to Word for the web or Word for mobile.

How to Prepare the Excel File

  1. Open your Excel file.
  2. Ensure each piece of name and address information is in its own column in the worksheet.
  3. Confirm that the first row contains column headers (e.g., First Name, Last Name, Street Address, City, State, and Zip Code).
  4. Remove any blank rows.
  5. Save and close the Excel file.

How to Add Names and Addresses Using Mail Merge

Start the Mail Merge

  1. Open the letter in Microsoft Word.
  2. Select the Mailings tab in the ribbon.
  3. Select Start Mail Merge in the Start Mail Merge group.
  4. Select Letters from the drop-down menu.

Choose the Recipients

  1. Select Select Recipients in the Start Mail Merge group.
  2. Select Use an Existing List from the drop-down menu.
  3. Locate and select your Excel file in the Select Data Source dialog box.
  4. Select the Open button.
  5. Select the worksheet containing your addresses in the Select Table dialog box.
  6. Select the OK button.
Important Note: If your Excel file only has one worksheet, the Select Table dialog box may not appear.

Edit the Recipient List

Important Note for Mac Users: This option is only available on PC. The Edit Recipient List option is unavailable (grayed out) in Word for Mac when merging with an Excel file.
  1. Select Edit Recipient List in the Start Mail Merge group.
  2. Uncheck any recipients you want to exclude in the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box.
Pro Tip: If this is your first time printing mail merge letters, strongly consider selecting only a few recipients for a test run before printing a large batch.
  1. Select the OK button.

Insert the Name Fields

Important Note for PC Users: The Greeting Line option in the Write & Insert Fields group is not recommended because it can introduce inconsistent spacing and formatting. (Word for Mac does not include the Greeting Line option.)
  1. Type the beginning of the greeting, such as “Dear” and then press the spacebar to insert one space.
  2. Select the Insert Merge Field menu arrow in the Write & Insert Fields group.
  3. Select the First Name field.
  4. Press the spacebar to insert one space.
  5. Reselect the Insert Merge Field menu arrow.
  6. Select the Last Name field.
  7. Type any necessary punctuation to end the greeting, such as a comma.

Insert the Address Fields

Important Note for PC Users: The Address Block option in the Write & Insert Fields group is not recommended because it can introduce inconsistent spacing and formatting. (Word for Mac does not include the Address Block option.)
  1. Place your cursor in the letter where you want to insert the recipient’s address.
  2. Select the Insert Merge Field menu arrow in the Write & Insert Fields group.
  3. Select the fields you want to include (such as First Name, Last Name, Street Address, City, State, and Zip Code), inserting each one individually.
Pro Tip: Fields that don’t apply to every recipient (such as P.O. boxes) won’t create blank lines if left empty.
  1. Place your cursor between fields and press Enter (PC) or Return (Mac) to move the fields to the next line, as necessary.
  2. Insert a space between the First Name and Last Name. Insert a comma and space between the City and State. Also insert a space between the State and Zip Code.

Preview the Results

  1. Select Preview Results to see how the name and address fields will look when populated with a recipient from the Excel file.
  2. Reselect Preview Results to return to the field view.

How to Customize the Name and Address Formatting

You can customize the name and address field formatting independently of the rest of the letter, including the line spacing, font, and size.

Reduce the Address Line Spacing

  1. Select all the address fields.
  2. Right-click (PC) or Control-click (Mac) one of the fields and then select Paragraph from the shortcut menu.
  3. Check Don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style in the Paragraph dialog box. (This will remove the extra space between the lines.)
  4. Select the OK button.

Change the Name and Address Font and Size

  1. Select the name fields.
  2. Right-click (PC) or Control-click (Mac) one of the fields.
  3. Select Font from the shortcut menu.
  4. Choose your preferred font and size in the Font dialog box.
  5. Select the OK button.
  6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 for the address fields.

How to Print Mail Merge Letters

  1. Select Finish & Merge in the Finish group.
  2. Select Print Documents from the drop-down menu.
  3. Select OK in the Merge to Printer dialog box.
  4. Select OK in the Print dialog box.

Bonus Section: How to Save Mail Merge Letters for Reuse

You can save the mail merge letters you just created for reuse in the future.

Important Note: This process will only work if the Excel file remains in the same storage location. The mail merge will break if the Excel file is moved or renamed.
  1. Press Ctrl + S (PC) or Command + S (Mac) to launch the Save this file dialog box. Or, use your preferred interface saving method.
  2. Select the location and enter a file name.
  3. Select the Save button.

When you reopen the file, PC users will see a dialog box stating that the document will run a SQL command. This is the link to the Excel file.

Mac users will see a similar dialog box along with a second asking for permission to open the Excel file.

  1. Select the Yes button.
  2. Select the Mailings tab.
  3. (PC only) Select Edit Recipient List to add or remove recipients as shown above.
  4. Select Finish & Merge to print the letters as shown above.

Related Resources

How to Create Address Labels in Microsoft Word from an Excel File (PC & Mac)

How to Create Address Labels in Microsoft Word from Gmail Contacts (PC & Mac)