How to Export Microsoft Access Data with Word Merge

Introduction

You use mail merge when you want to create a set of documents, such as a form letter that is sent to many people. Each document has the same kind of information, yet some of the content is unique. For example, in letters to your users, you can personalize each letter to address each user by name. The unique information in each letter comes from entries in a data source.

Procedure

  1. Open your Word document, or create a new one. The main document contains the text and graphics that are the same for each version of the merged document — for example, the return address in a form letter.
  2. Go to the Mailings ribbon and click on Start Mail Merge and choose the Step By Step option. The wizard will open on the right hand side of the screen.
  3. Select the Document Type and at the bottom of the screen click on: Next: Starting Document
  4. Select the Starting Document and click on: Next: Select Recipients
  5. Choose Use Existing List -- here's where you'll point to your query: Click on "Browse..." and navigate to your Access database, Open it, and you'll see a list of all its tables and queries ("VIEW"s). Choose the one you want. Note: A data source is a file that contains the information to be merged into a document. For example, the names and addresses of the recipients of a letter.
  6. Type in your InfoSource Username and password.
  7. Click on the lower right hand of the screen: Next: Write your letter
  8. Now you're back at the main document. You will need to add placeholders, called mail merge fields, to the document. When you perform the mail merge, the mail merge fields are filled with information from your data file. So you have to type text and occasionally click the 'Insert Merge Field' button, whose list will contain your query's fields, to put a query-data field into the main document. For Access, you can select data from any table or query that is defined in the database.
  9. Click on the lower right hand of the screen: Next: Preview your Letters
  10. Click on the lower right hand of the screen: Next: Complete the Merge
  11. Now you can choose the output of the merge. Choose either 'Print...' or 'Edit individual letters...'

Notes

References

  1. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/use-mail-merge-to-create-and...