1 - Introduction ~5 mins
Welcome
Imagine you need to send the same letter to ten people, but each one should feel personal: their name, their organisation, one detail that only applies to them. Typing ten separate letters is slow and easy to mess up. Mail merge does the personalisation for you: one template letter plus one list of recipients equals a stack of finished letters in minutes.
Today you set up the two pieces that make a merge work for your Something Real project: a clean data source spreadsheet and a template letter with merge fields. Next lesson you will run the merge and check the output.
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Explain what mail merge is and why it saves time
- Build a data source with one row per recipient
- Create a template letter with merge fields for name and one project-specific field
Warm-up
Jot five people you might contact about your Something Real project. For each one, note role + first name + one detail (for example: Ciara — local shop — laptop stickers, or Sam — Work Experience supervisor — Thursday shift). Realistic placeholders are fine if you cannot use real names. You will turn this list into your data source later.
No project locked yet? Use Work Experience, a club, or a small side hustle idea and jot five roles (supervisor, coach, local shop) with first names only.
2 - Key Concepts ~5 mins
Mail merge is a two-part job: a list of people, and one letter that knows how to pull their details. Learn these four ideas, then build Aoife's example.
| Concept | Why it matters | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Mail merge — one template plus one recipient list makes a personalised copy for each person | You write the letter once; the software fills in the personal details | The same intro letter goes to five local craft shops, each addressed by name |
| Data source — a spreadsheet with column headers as field names and one row per recipient | Messy data breaks the merge; clean headers keep every letter accurate | Columns such as FirstName, LastName, Organisation, Offer |
| Merge field — a placeholder in the template replaced by a value from the matching column | The field name must match the column header exactly (spelling and capitals), or that letter comes out blank or wrong | «FirstName» becomes Ciara on one letter and Sean on the next |
| Template letter — the master document with fixed text plus merge fields; never type individual names into it by hand | All fixed wording stays consistent; only the personal fields change | Only the fields inside « » change per recipient |
Worked example you will build
Aoife is running a small custom-sticker side hustle and wants personalised intro letters for local shops and online contacts. Her data source looks like this:
| FirstName | LastName | Organisation | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ciara | Byrne | Gallery Lane | laptop stickers |
| Sean | Murphy | The Craft Corner | water-bottle stickers |
| Niamh | O'Neill | Campus Hub Shop | phone stickers |
| Tom | Walsh | Indie Market Stall 12 | sticker packs |
| Aisling | Kelly | Online (Instagram lead) | custom name stickers |
Dear «FirstName», I would like to offer «Organisation» a sample of our «Offer» for your customers.
When the merge runs later, each letter gets the right name, organisation, and offer automatically.
3 - Step-by-step: Data Source ~8 mins
Build Aoife's mail-merge data source with your teacher: a spreadsheet with four headers and five recipient rows.
Save the practice file in {{code:Project_Portfolio/09_specialism/sm1/}} as: {{code:sm1_doc4_mailmerge_source_EXAMPLE}}
Behind? Finish the four headers plus two recipient rows now. Complete the rest of Aoife's rows before independent practice. Your own Something Real pair with the official course names comes later.
4 - Step-by-step: Template Letter ~8 mins
Now build Aoife's template letter with merge fields for FirstName, Organisation, and Offer.
Save the practice file in {{code:Project_Portfolio/09_specialism/sm1/}} as: {{code:sm1_doc4_mailmerge_letter_EXAMPLE}}
You will not run the full merge yet. Visible «FieldName» placeholders count as complete for Part 1.
Behind? Get the Dear «FirstName» opening with all three markers in place, then finish the body. Your teacher may also share a ready EXAMPLE letter you can open, rename, and check.
5 - Common Issues ~4 mins
Common Issues
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| I cannot type the « » merge markers | Copy « and » from the lesson page and paste them around the field name. On Word Online (Windows) you can also try {{menu:Insert -> Symbol}}. On Mac or Chromebook, stick to copy-paste from this page. Do not use ordinary less-than/greater-than signs alone if your teacher has asked for « ». |
| My merge field name does not match the spreadsheet | Open the data source and read the header cell letter by letter. {{code:FirstName}} is not the same as {{code:First Name}} or {{code:firstname}}. Fix either the header or the marker so they match exactly. |
| I put two contacts on one row / left a blank row | Delete the blank row. Give each person their own row with one value per column. Then re-check that you still have five complete recipient rows for the practice build. |
| I saved the letter outside my sm1 folder | In OneDrive or Drive, move both files into {{code:Project_Portfolio/09_specialism/sm1/}}. Next time, open that folder first, then create the new file inside it. |
| I am not sure which files are practice and which are mine | Keep the guided pair as {{code:sm1_doc4_mailmerge_source_EXAMPLE}} and {{code:sm1_doc4_mailmerge_letter_EXAMPLE}}. Your Something Real pair uses the official names {{code:sm1_doc4_mailmerge_source.xlsx}} and {{code:sm1_doc4_mailmerge_letter.docx}}. Both pairs should stay in {{code:sm1/}}. |
Unlock the full learning experience
You're previewing this lesson. Get full access to this lesson and hundreds more — each one ready to teach, with interactive activities, printable resources and pupil progress tracking built in.
This lesson is copyright of Coding Ireland 2017 - 2025. Unauthorised use, copying or distribution is not allowed.