Merge to Fax command is unavailable on Mail Merge toolbar (282550)

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Word 2002 and in Microsoft Word 2003, the Faxes document-type setting is not available in the Mail Merge Wizard or in the Main Document Type dialog box. In addition, the Merge to Fax button on the Mail Merge toolbar is unavailable (appears dimmed).

CAUSE

In earlier versions of Word, the Merge to Fax option uses Microsoft Fax (also known as At Work Fax), which is installed with Microsoft Windows 95 and as a separate installation with some versions of Microsoft Windows 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition (SE).

Microsoft Outlook 2002 and Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 are the messaging programs in Microsoft Office. Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003 do not support Microsoft Fax.

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, install a fax service that supports faxing directly from your e-mail program, and then use the Merge to E-mail command in Word.

For example, to use the Windows 2000 Fax Service to fax through Outlook 2002, type the fax number on the message To line in the following format

[Fax:xxx]

where xxx is the fax number of the recipient. Do not use parentheses or hyphens to separate the area code or prefix.

For more information about setting up and mail merging to the Windows 2000 Fax Service with Microsoft Office XP, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

227194 How to configure Windows 2000 to send and receive faxes

289532 How to use Windows 2000 Fax Service to initiate a mail merge in Outlook 2002

MORE INFORMATION

This article explains how to use mail merge to send a document to a list of fax recipients. This is not the same as sending a document to a single fax recipient by using the Fax Wizard (activated by clicking Send To on the File menu, and then clicking Fax Recipient).

It is still possible to use Microsoft Fax with the Fax Wizard in Word 2002, but the process is slightly different from earlier versions of Word. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

290971 Unable to select Microsoft Fax in Fax Wizard

REFERENCES

For more information about how to set up a mail merge, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

294694 How to use mail merge to create e-mail messages in Word 2002