How to Do a Mail Merge in Word (2026)
A mail merge takes one template and a list of recipients and produces a personalized copy for each — letters, emails, envelopes, or labels. The data usually comes from an Excel spreadsheet. Here’s the full process.
1. Prepare Your Recipient List
Set up an Excel sheet with one column per field (First Name, Last Name, Address…) and a header row. Keep it on one tidy sheet, and format ZIP codes and numbers as text if leading zeros matter. Save and close it before merging.
2. Start the Mail Merge
- In Word, go to the Mailings tab.
- Click Start Mail Merge and choose the type: Letters, E-mail Messages, Envelopes, or Labels.
For a guided experience, choose Step-by-Step Mail Merge Wizard instead.
3. Connect Your List
- Select Recipients > Use an Existing List.
- Browse to your Excel file and pick the sheet.
- Use Edit Recipient List to sort, filter, or uncheck people you want to skip.
4. Insert Merge Fields
- Click where personalized data goes.
- Use Insert Merge Field to drop in fields like «First_Name», or click Address Block and Greeting Line for ready-made blocks.
- Click Preview Results to see real data and step through recipients.
5. Finish the Merge
- Click Finish & Merge.
- Choose Edit Individual Documents (creates one file with all copies), Print Documents, or Send Email Messages (pick the email field and subject).
For labels, click Update Labels first so the field layout copies to every label on the sheet.
6. Troubleshooting
My ZIP codes lost their leading zeros
Format that Excel column as Text, or connect via DDE in Word’s advanced settings to preserve formatting.
Fields show «First_Name» instead of names
You’re viewing field codes. Click Preview Results, or press Alt+F9 to toggle field display.
Only the first label fills in
Click Update Labels on the Mailings tab to propagate the fields to all labels before finishing.
Word can’t find my spreadsheet data
Make sure the Excel file is closed, the data is on the first sheet, and there’s a header row directly above the records.
Related Word guides: How to insert a signature · How to create a table · How to add a drop-down list · How to insert a checkbox · How to add page numbers
Ready to automate your busywork?
Carly schedules, researches, and briefs you—so you can focus on what matters.
See what people say
"Before Carly, I relied on a Calendly link, but the whole process felt impersonal and not very professional. Carly changed that by handling all the back-and-forth, so I'm no longer stuck in endless email threads trying to line up schedules.
Now Carly reaches out to candidates, shares my real-time availability, lets them pick a slot, then sends a Zoom link and drops it straight into my calendar. She sends reminders to both of us before each call, which has significantly reduced no-shows and last-minute confusion.
On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."
