Mail Merge in Office 2011 on a Mac

First, you should have an excel spreadsheet with the names and whatever other data you want to use. It should look something like this.

spreadsheet

I've named this file names_and_numbers.xlsx.

Next, start word and open the Mail Merge Manager.

start mail merge

A small window (called the Mail Merge Manager) will pop up. We just need to work through the steps on it.

mail merge window

Under #1, select Form Letters from the Create New dropdown choice.

create new form letter

Under #2, click "Get List" and select "Open Data Source" and then pick your excel file. For me, it will be names_and_numbers.xlsx.

pick data source

You may get a warning like below, just click OK.

warning

You will then be prompted to pick which sheet and which cells, just take the default.

select workbook

You'll now have the data from the spreadsheet available to your word document. The Mail Merge Manager should look something like this:

mail merge with data

Now, go to your document and write your letter. Wherever you want customized data from the spreadsheet to appear, just click and drag the placeholders into the document.

use data source

After you drag the placeholder, your document should look like this.

with data link in place

Finish your document dragging placeholders wherever you want them.

finished doc with links

When your document is finished, you just need to run the merge. You can send the documents directly to the printer or make a new word document with all the personalized letters. I usually make a new file, just to check that things actually look how I think they should. If it's ok, you can then just send this new document to the printer. To run the merge, go to #6 in the Mail Merge Manager and click the Merge to New Document button.

run merge

A new document will open with a new page for each customized letter. You can save or print it.

new doc with form letters
Updated: May 2013