Show Me. Microsoft Office Word 2003. See it Done, Do It Yourself

Now it is time to specify the recipients for your mail merge. To do so, you must identify a data document as the source of the recipient information you will use to personalize the mailing. If you have an existing database of information to work with, this is the easiest method. The mail merge works with most standard database and spreadsheet programs including Microsoft Access, Microsoft FoxPro, and Microsoft Excel. Before you can import data into the Mail Merge Wizard from an external database, you must first export it from the database you are using. Follow the instructions for that database to export a file in either comma or tab delimited format, and remember which format you chose. Export the file to the My Data Sources folder in the My Documents folder.

Import Data from an Existing Database

On Step 3 of 6 in the Mail Merge task pane, click the Use An Existing List option.

Click Browse on the task pane.

Locate and select the database file from which you want to import the recipient data.

Click Open .

The Mail Merge Recipient dialog box opens, displaying the data source for the merge.

Edit the recipient data (if necessary), and then click OK.

Click Next: Write Your Letter on the task pane to display Step 4 of 6.