How to use mail merge to create faxes in Word 2002 and in later versions of Word (294695)

SUMMARY

This article describes how to use mail merge to create faxes in Microsoft Word 2002 and in later versions of Word. Use this feature in Word to send the same fax message to multiple recipients.

Frequently, the Merge To Fax button on the Mail Merge toolbar is unavailable (appears dimmed), and Faxes does not appear as one of the available mail-merge document types in the Mail Merge task pane or the Main Document Type dialog box.

In earlier versions of Word, this command uses Microsoft Fax (also known as At Work Fax), which is installed with Microsoft Windows 95 and as a separate installation with retail versions of Microsoft Windows 98 and Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition. However, Microsoft Outlook, the messaging program in Microsoft Office, does not support Microsoft Fax.

If you are using Microsoft Windows 2000, see the Mail Merge to the Windows 2000 Fax Service section.

Using "Merge To Fax"

If your fax software supports use of the Merge To Fax option, follow these steps to perform a mail merge to fax from Word:

1. In Word, start the mail merge. To start a mail merge, perform the following step as appropriate for your version of Word.
   • Word 2002
     
     On the Tools menu, click Letters and Mailings, and then click Mail Merge Wizard.
   • Word 2003
     
     On the Tools menu, click Letters and Mailings, and then click Mail Merge.
2. In the Mail Merge task pane, click to select Faxes under Select document type.
3. Click Next: Starting document.
4. Under Select starting document, select from the following three options:
   • Select Use the current document if you want the body of the fax message to be the currently open document.
   • Select Start from a template, and then click Select template if you want the body of the fax message to be created from an existing template.
   • Select Start from existing document, and then either select from the list of file names, or click Open if you want the body of the fax message to be an existing document.
5. Click Next: Select recipients.
6. Under Select recipients, select from the following three options:
   • Select Use an existing list, and then click Browse if you want the recipient information to come from an existing data file.
   • Select Select from Outlook contacts, and then click Choose Contacts Folder if you want the recipient information to come from names in an Outlook contacts folder.
   • Select Type a new list, and then click Create to type the recipient names into the New Address List dialog box.
7. In the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box, make any adjustments to the list of recipients, and then click OK.
8. Click Next: Prepare your fax.
9. Click to insert any of the listed items into the body of the fax message, or click More items to insert items from the full list of merge fields in the Insert Merge Field dialog box.
10. Click Next: Preview your faxes.
11. Preview the fax message by clicking the left and right arrow buttons, and then make any final changes to the recipient list.
12. Click Next: Complete the merge.
13. Click Fax.
14. In the Merge To Fax dialog box, select the merge field that contains the fax number from the Fax number list.
15. Select which records you want to merge, and then click OK to complete the mail merge.

Mail merge to the Windows 2000 Fax Service

Although the Windows 2000 Fax Service does not explicitly turn on the Merge To Fax option in Word, it does support a mail merge from Word by using Microsoft Outlook.

For this procedure to work, you must install the Windows 2000 Fax Service and configure Outlook to send and receive faxes.

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Assuming that you correctly installed and configured the Windows 2000 Fax Service, you can merge to this fax service from Word. To do this, follow these steps:

1. In Word, start the mail merge.
   • Word 2002
     
     On the Tools menu, click Letters and Mailings, and then click Mail Merge Wizard.
   • Word 2003
     
     On the Tools menu, click Letters and Mailings, and then click Mail Merge.
2. In the Mail Merge task pane, click to select E-mail messages under Select document type.
3. Click Next: Starting document.
4. Under Select starting document, select from the following three options:
   • Select Use the current document if you want the body of the message to be the currently open document.
   • Select Start from a template, and then click Select template if you want the body of the message to be created from an existing template.
   • Select Start from existing document, and then either select from the list of file names, or click Open if you want the body of the message to be an existing document.
5. Click Next: Select recipients.
6. Under Select recipients, select from the following two options:
   • Select Use an existing list, and then click Browse if you want the recipient information to come from an existing data file.
   • Select Type a new list, and then click Create to type the recipient names into the New Address List dialog box.
   In your data source, make sure the fax numbers are 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.
   
   
7. In the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box, make any adjustments to the list of recipients, and then click OK.
8. Click Next: Write your e-mail message.
9. Click to insert any of the listed items into the body of the message, or click More items to insert items from the full list of merge fields in the Insert Merge Field dialog box.
10. Click Next: Preview your e-mail message.
11. Preview the message by clicking the left and right arrow buttons, and then make any final changes to the recipient list.
12. Click Next: Complete the merge.
13. Click Electronic Mail.
14. In the Merge To E-mail dialog box, select the merge field that contains the fax number in the To list.
15. Type a subject and select a mail format.
16. Choose which records to merge, and then click OK to complete the merge.

Note Using names from Outlook contacts in a mail merge with the Windows 2000 Fax Service requires additional steps, because the built-in fax fields in Outlook do not use the specialized format shown in step 6.