How to Use Mail Merge in Microsoft Word

Ask @WinObs: How Can I Connect My Android Phone With Windows 10?

Q. How can I connect my Android phone with Windows 10?

A. Sharing between all your devices is becoming a very necessary part of both work and recreational use these days. The cloud and your Microsoft Account help make the connections easy so that setup is not a hindrance to being flexible with how you need to work with your files and documents.

While there is the possibility to connect both your iOS and Android devices into this ecosystem, the capabilities are different for each platform. I use the Samsung Galaxy S8 as my smartphone so that is the basis of my experience and what I will share here today because that is my frame of reference.

It is possible to connect a compatible Android smart phone to Windows 10. Let’s walk through how.

Begin the process from Windows Settings > Phone on Windows 10 Fall Creators Update or beyond.

Phone now has its own settings area in the Windows Settings App on Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

Once you have opened Windows Settings > Phone you will see this page and a plus sign just under the header to Add a phone. Select that to move to the next step.

This pop-up dialog will open for you to insert your phone number to the device you want to connect with this Windows 10 device.

When your text is sent successfully you will see this notification in the dialog box. At this point you can close this dialog.

Once that text has been sent and you close that dialog window, the Phone settings page will update. You will now see your smartphone listed under Manage phones. It should show the brand and model of the phone for reference.

If you have more than one phone you can now add it just like you did the first one plus there are links here to manage all your connected devices via the Microsoft Account web page or unlink this PC from your smartphone.

Next you need to grab your smartphone to continue the linking process.

You should see a similar text message on your smartphone with a link to open the Google Play Store and install Microsoft Edge.

Note: The text message from Microsoft still shows the Microsoft Launcher icon but this link is to Microsoft Edge. Edge is now the app that connects your smartphone to your Windows 10 device once you log into Edge on Android using your Microsoft Account.

Once you have installed Microsoft Edge from the Google Play Store it is time to open the app and log in  with your Microsoft Account.

From the main Microsoft Edge screen select the three dots in the lower right corner of the screen.

Tap Sign in at the top of this menu to open the sign in dialog.

If you have more than one Microsoft Account already in use on your smartphone just select the same one that you use on your Windows 10 device. If you have never used your Microsoft Account on your phone, then enter those credentials and any two-factor authentication that might be in use.

Once you complete the log in process with your Microsoft Account, just tap the three dots once again to verify the process was successful. You should see your name and Microsoft Account avatar at the top of the menu.

Now you are ready to share to your Windows 10 device.

From the main Microsoft Edge screen there is an icon on the toolbar that looks like a mobile device with an arrow pointing away from it. This is the Share to PC icon and you tap that to begin the process of sharing this web page to your linked Windows 10 device.

The dialog box that appears will list the Windows 10 devices you have linked with this phone. The greyed-out devices are offline and can not be targets to share the link immediately for display. If you select the MainDTW10CB in this list, the webpage would open on that device directly in Microsoft Edge.

However, if you select the Continue later option below that list, a notification will be sent to the Action Center on your linked devices.

In addition to sharing websites from your mobile device over to Windows 10, you can also share files such as documents and images using a similar process.

When you use the Share menu on your Android device you will see a new option called Continue on PC.

If you select this, a pop-up dialog like the one showed earlier for Microsoft Edge will appear and let you select which device to send that file to.

How to Use Mail Merge in Microsoft Word

Mail merge can save you plenty of time when you need to address multiple envelopes or labels.

You have envelopes or labels that you want to address to many people. You can do that individually, or you can do it much quicker through a mail merge in Word. The mail merge feature lets you create an envelope or a series of labels and then merge that file with dozens, hundreds, or thousands of names and addresses. Using a list or table of names, you populate your envelope or labels with fields to insert each name and address.

But Word’s mail merge can be tricky. How can you use it simply and effectively? Let’s check it out.

I’m using Word 2016 here, but mail merge is available in any version of Word and works the same over the past few versions of the program. You can merge different types of files, including email messages, documents, and directories. But envelopes and labels are the most common formats for a mail merge, so we’ll focus on those.

If you want to try out a mail merge on your end, you’ll need a list of names and addresses stored in a Word table, an Excel spreadsheet, or an Outlook contact list. Create a spreadsheet in Excel for this example. Your list of names doesn’t need to be a lengthy one, just as long as you have one. Make sure the spreadsheet has the following headers: Salutation, First Name, Last Name, Address, City, State, and Zip.

You can perform the mail merge manually or through a wizard. We’ll try the manual process first and then segue to the wizard. Open Word. Click on the Mailings menu. Click on the Start Mail Merge button and click on Envelopes from the menu. Then, follow these steps.

At the Envelopes Options window, select the size of the envelope. Then select the font and location for the delivery and return address.

Click on the Printing Options tab to set the placement of the envelopes and the paper feed. Click OK. Word displays a single envelope with your name and the return address.

Click on the Select Recipients button on the Ribbon. Choose the option to Use an Existing List. Pick an Excel spreadsheet. Browse to and double-click the spreadsheet with your list of names.

The Select Table window gives the spreadsheet a name of Sheet1$. Click OK. Click on the Edit Recipient List button to view or modify the records.

You can uncheck any names you don’t want to include in the merge.

You can resort the list. Click on the Sort link and then resort the list by any of the headers.

You can filter the list to include only records that match a certain criteria, such as a specific state or zip code. Click on the Filter link and set up the criteria on which you want to filter the list.

You can look for duplicates in the list by clicking on the Find duplicates link. You can search for specific recipients using any of the headers by clicking on the Find recipient link. And you can make sure the addresses follow the right format by clicking on the Validate addresses link, though you need special address validation software for this. Click OK to close the Address list.

Now you have to insert a field for the delivery name and address in the appropriate spot on the envelope. The Envelope feature inserts a frame for delivery address, however, you can’t see it unless you click on it.

Click in the middle of the envelope where the delivery address would appear, and you should see the borders of the frame. You can insert a field for each element, e.g., first name, last name, address, etc. But Word cuts to the chase by offering an Address Block field that incorporates all the elements in one shot.

Click on the Address Block button. At the Insert Address Block window, choose the format for the address elements. You can preview the addresses by clicking on the right arrow next to each one. Click OK.

The Address Block field should appear in the frame in the middle of the envelope. To make sure the address appears correctly, click on the Preview Results button. That shows you what the first envelope would look like. If all appears well, click on the Finish & Merge button.

You can click on the Print Documents command to send the envelopes directly to the printer. But I recommend you click on the Edit Individual Documents command instead so you can see the envelopes in your document first and then print them.

At the Merge to New Document window, you can opt to add only specific records. To add them all (which is the default option), click OK. The merged envelopes are added to your document. You can now scroll down the document to review each envelope and then print them.

Let’s try another merge. This time we’ll use labels and an Outlook contact list and we’ll try the Mail Merge wizard. (If you don’t have Outlook, you can use your Excel spreadsheet again.)

Close any open Word documents and open a new blank document.

Click on the Mailings menu.

Click on the Start Mail Merge button and click on Step-by-Step Mail Merge Wizard from the menu. The Mail Merge Wizard opens as a pane to the right of your document.

Select Labels and then click on the Next link at the bottom of the pane.

Click on the link for Label options. At the Label Options window, select the size of the label sheet you plan to use. Click OK to close that window.

Click on the option to Use the current document if it’s not already selected and then click on Next.

Click on the option to Select from Outlook contacts. Click on the link to Choose Contacts Folder. A window prompts you to choose or confirm your Outlook profile name.

Make sure the current profile appears and then click OK to close that window.

At the Select Contacts window, make sure the current contacts folder is selected. At the Mail Merge Recipients window, look for any contacts that do not have an address.

You can then exclude those contacts from the merge by unchecking them, or you can change the list to display only nonblanks in the address field. To do this, click on the down arrow for Address and change the selection to (Nonblanks).

Click OK to close the window and click Next.

Make sure your cursor is position in Label 1 and click on Address Block to insert the Address block field. Confirm the address elements at the Insert Address Block window. Click OK to close that window.

Click the button to Update all labels. You should now see the «AddressBlock» field in the first label and the «Next Record» and «AddressBlock» fields in the subsequent labels. Click Next. You should see each name and address in a different label.

Click Next. If you want to send the labels to the printer, click on the Print link. To first see the labels in a printable document, click on the link to Edit individual labels. Click OK, and a printable label page appears.