I would like to complete a mail merge using Word 2007, but I cannot figure out how mail merge works. Can you provide advice on how the mail merge functions in this new version of Word? Additionally, my computer has a lot of different folders. I would like to consolidate the number of folders on the computer, but am unsure how to delete these folders. Could you provide advice on this matter?

The mail merge function in Word 2007 is a bit different to previous versions, primarily because the Word 2007 interface is quite different (with the Office ribbon instead of the familiar Word toolbar). In order to complete a mail merge you first need the database or spreadsheet that contains all the data you wish to merge. I will assume that you have created an Excel spreadsheet which contains the data for merging (e.g. a spreadsheet with the names and addresses for various people). In this spreadsheet, the columns should correspond to the fields (e.g. Name, Address, Phone Number) and the rows should correspond to the records (in the case of our names and addresses spreadsheet, each row would contain the name and address for one person).

Once you have the spreadsheet ready, save the spreadsheet and then close Excel, as Word will not be able to access the spreadsheet while it is still open in Excel. Open Word and then open the document which you want to use for the merge. In the Ribbon at the top of the window click the “Mailings” tab. There are several ways you can now attempt the merge. The easiest method is to click “Start Mail Merge” and then click “Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard” which will provide a guided approach to completing the mail merge. However, this method is not as flexible as setting up the merge manually. As such, I will discuss the way to manually setup the merge as this will provide the most flexibility should you wish to merge documents which don’t fit neatly into the merge categories offered by the wizard.

Click the “Select Recipients” button and then select “Use existing list”. A window will appear allowing you to select the list. In this window you should locate and open the Excel spreadsheet containing the data and information that you wish to merge. As Excel spreadsheets often contain multiple sheets, a window will appear asking you to select which sheet contains the data you need to merge. Normally your data will be contained on Sheet1, but if you used other sheets then you may need to select a different sheet which contains the data. You will also notice at the bottom of that window there is an option asking whether the first row in the spreadsheet contains headings data (e.g. headings for the columns, such as Name, Address, Phone, etc). If the sheet does contain a heading row then leave that option ticked, so that Word does not merge the headings into the document. However, if the spreadsheet does not have heading rows, untick that option so the first row (which contains actual data) is merged.

Back in the main Word window you will now notice that several more options on the “Mailings” tab have become enabled. The next setting you need to configure is which rows of your Excel spreadsheet you wish to merge into the document. This can be configured by clicking the “Edit Recipient List” button. By default, all rows from the spreadsheet (which contain data) will be merged into the document. However, there may be instances where you do not wish for particular rows to be included in the mail merge. In the Edit Recipient List window you can untick the rows that you do not wish to be merged. Assuming that you do want all the rows merged you can leave all the rows ticked, which should be the default setting.

We are now at the stage of inserting the merge fields into the document. A merge field is a temporary placeholder in the document which represents where the merged data will be placed when all data has been merged into the document. Position the mouse cursor in the Word document where you would like one of the fields to be inserted into the document. For example, you may have the text “Dear” in the document where you would like the recipient’s name to be inserted. In this case, you would type a space after “Dear” and position the mouse cursor after that space so the name can be inserted. Now you are ready to insert the merge field. Click “Insert Merge Field” and select the field you would like to insert. You will notice that the merge field is inserted into the specified position in the document and is denoted in double angle brackets, such as <>. This is where the data for that field will be inserted in your document once it has been merged. You are now free to format that placeholder however you like (e.g. font face, size, colour), and the formatting will be carried across to the text that is inserted once the document has been merged. Repeat this process for all the merge fields you wish to insert into the document.

Once all the merge fields have been inserted you are almost ready to complete the merge. However, before doing so I suggest that you click the “Preview Results” button as this will allow you to preview the merge results before actually completing the mail merge. In preview mode you can also scroll between different merge records using the forward and back buttons next to the “Preview Results” button. Once you are satisfied with the results click the “Finish & Merge” button and select one of the options. If I am doing a relatively small mail merge (e.g. 30 letters) then I will always pick the “Edit Individual Documents” option just to double-check the documents before printing. However, if you are doing a larger run (and it is not feasible to manually check each document) then you may wish to directly print or email the merge.

Regarding your second question about deleting folders, this is a relatively simple process. However, there are a few caveats to observe before we go deleting things. First, deleting something on the computer is generally a one-way process, so make sure that you don’t need what you are deleting. Additionally, since folders can contain many files (and other sub-folders) ensure that any folders which you delete do not contain anything that you wish to keep. You should also be wary to check the purpose of any folders you want to delete, especially if you did not create the folder, since it may contain important files which are used for the Windows system or other programs running on the computer.

Should you wish to continue and delete folders, go to the “Start” menu > “My Computer”. Double-click to open your hard drive and then find the folder or folders you wish to delete, right-click on the folder, and select “Delete”.