QUESTION: I occasionally use Microsoft Word to print envelopes to a list of people but I have to start from scratch everytime I add new people to my list. Is there a way around this?
Ed: There are several tutorials for printing envelopes on the Internet including the one at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/294685 but I haven’t seen any of them show how to accomplish your objective. To find more tutorials just use your favorite search engine and look for “Microsoft Word 2007 print multiple envelopes” without the quotes. Here’s an outline of the steps to do what you want followed by the important stuff below:
1. Make sure you have a list of addressees either in Excel or in Word. When you start the Mail Merge you will get the opportunity to do it in Word if you don’t have an existing list.
2. In Word 2007 or 2010 click Envelop on the left of the Ribbon Bar at the top. You need to enter your return address here which you can always change later. This assumes you want to print both a sending and return address.
3. Next, start the Mail Merge. Here you have a choice of using the Wizard or stepping from left to right across the Mailings Toolbar. Be sure to place your cursor where you want the addresses to be inserted, usually in the center of the envelope.
Important stuff
The rest of the details for completing the Mail Merge can be found online by reading the tutorials. Here are the details to accomplish your specific goal:
When you complete the merge you will have two documents open in Word. The last one to be created contains the pages of envelopes with one page for everyone on your list. You can either print it right away or save it for printing later. This document will never change no matter how many people you add to the list.
The other document is the one that created the envelopes by reading the list, such as an Excel file, and generating the resulting merge. Now, if you save this other document in a special way, the next time it is opened, it will read all of the names from your data file including any that you have added. You have to save this document as a Word Macro-Enabled Document for this to work. Be aware that you may get several security warning along the way but it is safe to proceed.
Ed Schwartz is a member of the North Orange County Computer Club. To send in a question, go to edwardns.com and click the Contact Me menu. Archives of previous columns are also on the website.