Microsoft Word uses merge fields (also called placeholders) within a document to tell it exactly where to place the information coming from the data source during a mail merge. These merge fields correspond to columns or fields in the data source and indicate where each piece of data should appear in the document
. The process works as follows:
- You connect Word to a data source, such as an Excel spreadsheet, Access database, Outlook contacts, or other databases, which contains the information you want to merge
- In the Word document, you insert merge fields at the locations where you want specific data to appear. These fields act as markers or placeholders.
- When you run the mail merge, Word replaces each merge field with the corresponding data from the current record in the data source.
- To control the flow of data from one record to the next (for example, moving to the next address in a label sheet), Word uses rules like Next Record or conditional rules such as If...Then...Else to determine how and where to place data from subsequent records
In summary, it is the merge fields and associated mail merge rules in the Word document that tell Microsoft Word exactly where to place the information coming from the connected data source
