Define mail merge. Write down the steps of mail merge.

Mail Merge is MS-Word's feature to generate many personalized documents from one main template plus a structured data source. Same body, different name/address per copy — e.g. 500 admit cards without retyping.

When to use: Invitation letters, salary slips, certificates, meeting notices, labels.

Detailed steps (Word + Excel):

Step 1 — Prepare data source: Excel with header row: Name | School | Address. One row per recipient, no blank header, clean spellings. Save and close.

Step 2 — Create main document: Type common letter in Word, leaving blanks where personal fields go. Example: "Dear _____, You are invited...".

Step 3 — Start Mail Merge: Mailings → Start Mail Merge → Letters (or E-mail Messages / Labels as needed) → Select Recipients → Use an Existing List → browse Excel → select sheet → confirm first row has headers.

Step 4 — Insert merge fields: Click where name goes → Insert Merge Field → Name; repeat for School, Address. Use Preview Results to check "Dear Ram Sharma..." changes per record. Add Rules → If...Then...Else for conditional lines if needed.

Step 5 — Preview and finish: Preview each letter with arrows; Finish & Merge → Edit Individual Documents (to review combined file) or Print Documents / Send E-mail Messages. For email, map To: field to Email column.

Exam tips: Mention data source + main document + field insertion; common error is open Excel file locking the source — close it before merging.