Instructions for Installing and Using the Merge Tools Add-in

Do NOT open the MergeTools – 2020.dotm file. (There are no user serviceable parts inside
and it should NOT be used as the basis for creating your mail merge main document.)

The MergeTools – 2020.dotm file needs to be saved in the Word Startup folder. In Windows
Vista and Windows 7, 8 or 8.1, and 10, the default location for that folder is

C:\Users\[User Name]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP

If you do not see the AppData folder: -

In Windows 7, - In Windows Explorer, click on the Organize drop down and then on Folder and
search options and in the Folder Options dialog, go to the View tab and select the item "Show
hidden files, folders, and drives". While there, it is a good idea to uncheck the box for "Hide
extensions for known file types".

In Windows 8, 8.1 or 10, in the File Explorer, click on Options on the View tab of the ribbon
and then on the View tab in the dialog that appears and select the item "Show hidden files,
folders, and drives" and uncheck the box for "Hide protected operating system files
(Recommended)". While there, it is a good idea to uncheck the box for "Hide extensions for
known file types".If you are concerned about leaving the protected operating system files
exposed, after installting the MergeTools Add-in, you can go back and re-check that box.

When that has been done and Word is started\re-started, the tab shown below will be added to
the Ribbon:

To ensure success in using the Merge Tools utilities, please

carefully read the instructions on the next pages.
If you do run into any issues when using the utilities, contact me via email at

dougrobbinsmvp@gmail.com

providing details of any error message that you receive and also providing a
copy of the mail merge main document and the data source.

If the data source contains confidential information, that information can be

removed or replaced with non sensitive data. If the information is removed,
do leave the field name in the first row of the worksheet on which the data is
located.
The requirements for using the system are:

1. The mail merge main document must be of the Letters type, though that does not mean
that the output cannot be sent as an e-mail message.

2. For the Many To One, Merge with Attachments and Merge to Individual Docs utilities,
the data source may be either a table or query in an Access database, or in the form of
an Excel worksheet and that worksheet must be the first sheet in the Excel workbook. If
the data is on some other sheet, you can easily move that sheet so that it is the first
sheet in the workbook by clicking on the sheet tab and dragging it to the left. For the
Chart Merge utility, download the Mail Merging with Charts document that is also on
that page of my OneDrive for additional requirements of the data source for use with
that utility

3. For a data source in the form of an Excel worksheet:

a. The worksheet must be the first worksheet in the workbook. To move the
worksheet with the data to that position, click on the worksheet tab and drag it to the
left.

b. The mergefield names must be in the first row of the worksheet and there must be a
field name in all of the cells in that row that are within the range of columns that
contain the data.

c. The first row of data must be the second row of the worksheet and there should be
no empty rows within the range of data that is to be processed. Processing will stop
when an empty row is encountered.

d. There must be no data in the column immediately to the right of the last column in
which there is a mergefield name

4. For both types of data source, the field names must contain only alphanumeric
characters (No @,#,$,%,&,(,), etc) and the field names must not start with a numeric
character (0-9). The number of characters in the field names, including spaces, must
not be more than 40.

5. If there are multiple addressees in either the To, Cc, or Bcc fields of the data source,
the email addresses need to be separated by a semi-colon.

6. If using an If…then…Else field construction to test for an empty field, the test must
be for a single space " " rather than ""

NOTES:

1. The MergeTools applications cannot handle “Compound” MergeFields such as the

«AddressBlock» or «GreetingLine». Instead of using those fields, you will need to
insert the individual merge fields. To avoid blank lines in the output when there is
no data in some of the fields, an If…then…Else field construction such as that
shown below can be used.
 Note the space between the " " after the <> in the above construction, which is
required when using the Merge Tools utilities as noted in 6. above.

2. The Merge Tools utilities do NOT recognise any filtering of the data set up via the
Edit Recipient List facility. If there is a need to process only some of the records in
the data source, add another column and populate the cells in that column with
either a 0 or a 1 and then sort the data by that column so that the records that are to
be processed are located at the top of the worksheet. Then, insert an empty row
after the last row of data that is to be processed. The processing of the records will
stop when it comes to that row.

3. If Execution of the merge does not complete properly for whatever reason, close the
mail merge main document WITHOUT saving it as the process makes a number of
modifications to that document, and you will NOT want to save the document with those
modifications as:

a. it is no longer a mail merge main document,

b. it does not have the data source attached to it, and

c. the MERGEFIELD fields in the document will have been replaced by

DOCVARIABLE fields.

4. The Trial Version of the Merge Tools Add-in can be used 20 times and will display a
message each time that it is used that indicates how many more times it can be used.
If you want a version that does not display that message, or you want to continue to use
the Merge Tools Add-in after the trial has expired, if you make a payment of a minimum
of US$25 to my PayPal account:

dougrobbinsmvp@gmail.com

noting that the payment is for Merge Tools, a "message free" version of the Add-in, that
has no limitation on the number of times that it can be used, will be sent to you.