How to Suppress Blank Fields in Mail Merge for Word 2016 - Comprehensive Guide

Microsoft Word 2016 has a powerful Mail Merge feature that saves users time, as they can quickly create labels, envelopes, letters, and even postcards using data stored in an Excel file. The Mail Merge feature helps users to automatically insert the data collected from their spreadsheet.

However, if you try to pull in data from an Excel file, you may find that many of the merged fields have empty values. This is due to the data in the spreadsheet having empty cells. Since empty cells are hard to detect in the Excel spreadsheet and look clean, this can often cause problems for the user when they try to merge them in Word.

In this guide, users will learn how to suppress blank fields in mail merge for Word 2016, so they can easily insert data from an Excel file in their documents.

Setting Up Data Source

Before users suppress blank fields in mail merge for Word 2016, they need to create the data source. To do this:

1. Open a new spreadsheet in Excel.
2. Enter the data that users would like to insert in their Word document.
3. Save the spreadsheet as a Comma Separated Values (CSV) file.

Performing the Mail Merge

After users have set up the data source, they can now perform a mail merge on Word. To do this:

1. Open a new document using Word.
2. Click on the Mailings tab and choose "Start Mail Merge."
3. Select the document type that users would like to create using the Mail Merge feature
4. Click the Select Recipients button and select Use an Existing List option.
5. Browse the CSV file that users have created for the data source.

Suppressing Blank Fields

Now that users have set up the data source and chosen the recipients, they can begin suppressing blank fields. To do this:

1. Click the Insert Merge Field option from the Write & Insert Fields group.
2. Highlight the cells for which the user wants to suppress blank fields.
3. Access the Insert Merge Field dialog box.
4. Select the field to which the user wants to apply the suppression by ticking the checkbox next to it.
5. Click the Advanced button on the bottom of the Insert Merge Field dialog box.
6. Select the Suppress if Blank checkbox to suppress the blank fields.
7. Click OK.

After doing these steps, the users should have suppressed the blank fields in their mail merge document.

FAQ

What is Mail Merge?

Mail Merge is a powerful feature of Microsoft Word that helps users quickly create labels, envelopes, letters, and postcards using data stored in an Excel file.

Why Would I Need to Suppress Blank Fields In Mail Merge?

Suppressing blank fields in a mail merge document can make it easier to read and create clean documents. This is because empty cells in the Excel spreadsheet tend to be hard to detect, and as a result, when users try to merge them into Word, they are merged along with the data.

How Do I Create a Data Source for Mail Merge?

Before users begin suppressing blank fields in a mail merge document, they need to create the data source. To do this, users should open a new spreadsheet in Excel, enter the data they would like to insert in their Word document, and save the spreadsheet as a Comma Separated Values (CSV) file.

How Do I Access the Advanced Button In Mail Merge?

To access the Advanced button in a mail merge document, users should click the Insert Merge Field option from the Write & Insert Fields group. Then, they should highlight the cells for which the user wants to suppress blank fields, access the Insert Merge Field dialog box, select the field to which the user wants to apply the suppression, and click the Advanced button on the bottom of the Insert Merge Field dialog box.

How Do I Suppress Blank Fields In Mail Merge?

To suppress blank fields in a mail merge document, users should select the Suppress if Blank checkbox in the Advanced button. Once they have done this, they should click OK to apply the changes.

Related Links:

• How to Create a CSV File
• Suppress Blank Lines Fail Word 2016 (Recent Update?)