I bet that you've heard a lot about how the mail merge feature can make your life easier when you need to send out the same letter to a lot of different people. And yes, that's true! Mail merge can set up envelopes or documents to send to hundreds of destinations, provided, of course, that you are sending off a form letter. Doing a mail merge is as easy as 1,2,3,4:

1. Select the type of document as well as a main document

2. Connect to a data file and select records

3. Add fields to the main document

4. Preview the merge and complete it

Below is a step-by-step guide for Office 2003: (2007 instructions are further down)

1. Open Word.

2. Click on "Tools."

3. Click on "Letters and Mailings."

4. Click on "Mail Merge." (If you have Office 2002, this will be "Mail Merge Wizard") A new window will open.

5. You will see a set of circular buttons with the documents types by it; this will be under the words "Select Document Type." Click on the circle next to the type of document you want to merge.

6. Next find the heading labeled "Select Starting Document." If you have to write your document, choose "Use the Current Document" or if you have a document pre-typed you will select the button next to "Start from Existing Document."

7. Now find the section labeled "Select Recipients." Click on "Use an Existing List" if you have a list of recipients, or if you if you do not have a list, and you need to make one choose the "Type a New List" option.

8. If you have an existing list, then you will have to select which of the recipients you want to get the mailing. You can do that by checking the boxes next to their names, or if you want to send to everyone on the list, just click on the "Select All" button.

9. Now, if you didn't use an existing letter, it's time to add fields and write your letter. Look for the heading labeled "Write Your Letter", and click on the blue words below to add in your needed fields. At minimum you should have an address block.

10. Now you have to match any data that the program cannot. You will be given a box with a list of pull down menus. When Word cannot make a match, you will have to do so manually by using these boxes to select the correct information. You only need to correct the boxes that have the words "Not Matched" showing in the pull down menu.

11. Now look for the heading "Preview Your Letters." Use the left and right arrow buttons to scroll though the recipients. If you find someone you did not mean to include then you can click on the "Exclude This Recipient" button to remove them from the merge.

12. Now you can click on the blue words "Print" to have your documents come out of the printer or on "Edit Individual Letters" to give yourself a chance to edit each individual letter. Note: you only get the option to edit if you have chosen "letter" as your document type in step 5. If not, you can print or send without modifying.

13. Save your file.

Follow these steps to do a mail merge in Office 2007:

1. Open Word to a blank document.

2. Click on the "Mailings" tab.

3. Click on the "Start Mail Merge" button (This looks like a stack of documents with a letter on the top. You can find it in the "Start Mail Merge" group.)

4. A new menu will appear. In that menu click on "Letters" if you want to merge letters (or the correct option for the document you want to create.)

5. Now, click on the icon labeled "Select Recipients."

6. Another new menu will appear. Choose either "Use Existing List" or "Select from Outlook Contacts" depending on where you contact information is. If you choose "Use Existing List" then you will have to locate the file under the "Select Data Source" box.

If you want to edit the list of recipients, which means you are not using the whole list, you can click on "Edit Recipients List." The simplest thing to do is to click on "Select Individual Recipients" and then choose the people you want to add.

7. Now, to the right you will see buttons for adding the fields that you want to put into the letter. Choose at minimum the "Address Block," but you should probably also add a "Greeting Line." If you want a merge feature that does not have a button, click on "Invent Merge Field" and create your needed field.

8. Now you will run across the "Matching Fields" dialogue screen. You can see the blocks you've entered on the screen. If you do not like what you see or things have matched wrong, just click on the "Match Fields" button. You are now in a place where you can make things match that the automatic system does not find a match for manually.

If you need to make a change, just change what is in the pull down menu to the right of the field's title. Then click on "OK."

9. Now click on the "Preview Results" button and a new window will show up. You can use the forward and backward buttons to scroll through and check your documents.

10. Once you are done, click the "Finish and Merge" button on the top bar to complete the merge. You can now print your merged document or send them by e-mail. These options will pop up in the menu that appears when you click on the "Finish and Merge."

That's it! Now you can merge it like the best of them! Rejoice!