Mail merge. How to merge data from ascii file in Excel into an MSWord letter

Question

I recieved a list of names and addresses that I need to send letters to. The file icon is the Excel logo. But, it doesn't come up as an Excel file. I have to select 'all files' or 'text files' from the drop down menu to get it to show. The company that sent it to me said it was in 'ascii' format. I have no idea what that is. I wish Word made these things clear in their help or tutorials.   How do I merge the data into the Word letter?

rickmktg · Answer

@gregp1962 wrote:

I recieved a list of names and addresses that I need to send letters to. The file icon is the Excel logo. But, it doesn't come up as an Excel file. I have to select "all files" or "text files" from the drop down menu to get it to show. The company that sent it to me said it was in "ascii" format. I have no idea what that is. I wish Word made these things clear in their help or tutorials.

How do I merge the data into the Word letter?

Make it easy for yourself. Open Excel, the open the file from Excel, then store it as an Excel file. Then, you can merge it with Word the way you are comfortable with.

gregp1962 · Answer

OK Rick,   I did as you said. After wrestling with Word, it FINALLY did what I wanted. I wish Word wasn't programmed to do things you don't want it to do. I seriously wonder if it would be easier to just type these names in rather than merging.   I'll bet Wordperfect wasn't this difficult.

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Mail merge. How to merge data from ascii file in Excel into an MSWord letter

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