How to Print Individual Letters in Mail Merge

The Mail Merge feature in Microsoft Word is an effective and quick way to send personalized messages like letters or cards. The functionality allows you to combine a form letter with personalized data such as names and addresses. Mail merges are particularly useful when you need to send a message to multiple recipients within a short period of time.

To create a mail merge, first open a document that contains the letter template and select the Merge group. Then, click either the Select Recipients option or the Type a New List option. In the latter case, you must have a spreadsheet file that has column headings in the first row and a set of data for each individual recipient.

After selecting a template and choosing a format, you can add personalization by inserting placeholders in the document. Position the cursor where you want the data to appear and then click the Insert Merge Field button in the Mailings tab of the Ribbon. The Mailings tab shows a preview of all letters that will be generated by the mail merge. You can use the arrow buttons in this pane to switch between the previews of the different letters.

When you are ready to print the individual letters, highlight a letter in the Mailings pane and then click Print this letter. This will open the corresponding MS-Word document for the selected letter. You can then edit the letter to further customize it for each contact.