• You can use Excel to populate mailing labels in Word.  Unfortunately, both products, by default, drop the leading zero in zip codes.  

     

    First, ensure that your data is formatted correctly in Excel.  Your data source must be the first sheet in the workbook.

     

    Highlight the zip code column in Excel and right click.  Select Format cells.  Under the Number tab, select Special and then Zip Code.

    zip code format

     

    Save your spreadsheet.

     

    Open a new document in Word.  

    On the Advanced tab, go to the General section.

    Click to select the Confirm file format conversion on open check box, and then click OK.

    Start the mail merge and then select your recipients by navigating to the Excel spreadsheet that contains your data.  Excel will display the following dialog:


    confirm data source

    In the Confirm Data Source dialog box, click to select the Show all check box. Click MS Excel Worksheets via DDE (*.xls), and then click OK.


    confirm data source2

    In the Microsoft Excel dialog box, under Named or cell range, select the cell range or worksheet that contains the data that you want to use, and then click OK.


    chooserange

    Next, add merge fields to your main document (labels, envelopes, etc.).  

    Add an Address Block

    To easily add an address block to your letter, envelope or label use the Address Block tool.

    1. Click where you want to add the address block in your document.

    2. Choose Address Block

    Insert Address Block merge field

    Note:  If the Address Block command is grayed out, click Select Recipients and choose the kind of mailing list you’re using—Outlook Contacts, an Excel spreadsheet, or an .mdb file that you created earlier in Word. If you don’t have a mailing list yet, click Type New List to create your list in Word.

    Word gives you options for making the name on the address more formal or more informal.

    Tip:  To make mailing labels single spaced, select the Address Block field, click Page Layout (Word 2013) or Layout (Word 2016) and enter 0 in the Before and After boxes under Spacing.

    Use the Match Fields option to map your column names in Excel to the address fields in Word.

    matchfields

    field mappings

    Once your first Address Block is correct, click on Update Labels to apply your changes to all of the labels.

    Update Labels

     

    Paragraph Spacing

    To make sure addresses in an Excel spreadsheet come through the merge correctly, see Format mail merge numbers, dates, and other values in Excel.

    Add a Greeting Line

    To add a standard greeting to your email message or letter, use the Greeting Line tool

    1. Click where you want to add the greeting in your document.

    2. Choose Greeting Line.

      Screenshot of the Mailings tab in Word, showing the Greeting Line command as highlighted.

      Note:  If the Greeting Line command is grayed out, choose Select Recipients and select the kind of mailing list you’re using—Outlook Contacts, an Excel spreadsheet, or an .mdb file that you created earlier in Word. If you don’t have a mailing list yet, click Type New List to create your list in Word.

    3. Choose the name style that you want to use, and set other options.

      Greeting Line options

      Tip:  To be sure Word finds the names and addresses in your list, choose Match Fields. Check if the fields you want, appear in the list. If a field you want says Not Matched, select the drop-down list for that field and then choose the column name that matches that column in your list.

    4. To make sure the field is formatted the way you want, highlight the whole field, including the marks at each end.

      Greeting line field in a mail merge document

    5. Choose Home, and then check the font and font size.

      Font group on the Home tab

    6. Choose Line Spacing to make sure the line spacing matches the spacing in the rest of your document.

      Line Spacing on the Home tab

    After you add the fields you want to merge, type the information you want to be the same in each letter, email, envelope or label you create during the merge.

    Add individual merge fields

    If you want to add information from your mailing list to your document, you can add the merge fields one at a time.

    1. Click where you want to add the mail merge field in your document.

    2. Choose the drop down next to Insert Merge Field, and then select the field name.

      Insert Merge Field menu of available fields

    3. If you don’t see your field name in the list, choose the Insert Merge Field button.

      Insert Merge Field button

    4. Choose Database Fields to see the list of fields that are in your data source.

    5. Note: If you don't see the fields from your data source, check if your document is connected to the correct data source. Choose Edit Recipient List and confirm that the Data Source field matches the source you intended to use.

    6. Choose Insert.