What is a mail merge?

A mail merge is a method of taking data from a database, spreadsheet, or other form of structured data, and inserting it into documents such as letters, mailing labels, and envelopes. It usually requires two files, one storing the variable data to be inserted, and the other containing both the instructions for formatting the variable data and the information that will be identical across each result of the mail merge. (Adapted from Indiana University KB https://kb.iu.edu/d/agiy)

Mail merge lets you create a batch of documents that are personalized for each recipient. For example, a form letter might be personalized to address each recipient by name. A data source, like a list, spreadsheet, or database, is associated with the document. Placeholders–called merge fields–tell Word where in the document to include information from the data source. More information from Microsoft: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/use-mail-merge-for-bulk-email-letters-labels-and-envelopes-f488ed5b-b849-4c11-9cff-932c49474705

• Use mail merge to personalize letters
  https://support.office.com/en-us/article/use-mail-merge-to-send-bulk-email-messages-0f123521-20ce-4aa8-8b62-ac211dedefa4
• Mail merge with envelopes
  https://support.office.com/en-us/article/mail-merge-with-envelopes-654d563e-e9d6-47b5-b7bd-539064938b9d
• Print labels for your mailing list
  https://support.office.com/en-us/article/print-labels-for-your-mailing-list-276a2cd1-74d2-43d0-ab5a-b90460358ad5