How to Mail Merge Envelopes from Excel into Word

You have a list of addresses in Excel and need one printed envelope per row. Word's mail merge reads the workbook and fills each envelope from the columns.

Prepare the Excel list

Put one recipient per row with a header row in row 1: Name, Address 1, Address 2, City, State, ZIP. Remove blank rows and merged cells. Format the ZIP column as Text (select the column, Home, Number Format, Text) before typing or pasting the codes so leading zeros stay. Save and close the workbook.

Start the envelope merge in Word

Open a new blank document. Go to Mailings, Start Mail Merge, Envelopes. Choose the envelope size (Size 10 is the standard US business envelope), then click OK. Word switches the page to envelope layout.

Connect the Excel list

Go to Mailings, Select Recipients, Use an Existing List, pick the workbook, select the sheet, and confirm First row of data contains column headers is ticked. Click OK.

Insert the address block

Click in the recipient address area near the center of the envelope. Go to Mailings, Address Block. The preview shows a sample address; if lines are missing, click Match Fields and map each Word field to the matching column. Click OK.

Preview and print

Click Preview Results and page through with the arrows to check a few recipients. Then click Finish & Merge, Print Documents to send every envelope to the printer, or Edit Individual Documents to get one Word file containing every envelope for checking first.

If the return address is missing. Word fills it from File, Options, Advanced, General, Mailing address. Enter your address there before starting the merge, or type it in the top-left corner of the envelope document.

If ZIP codes lose their leading zero or the printer misfeeds. The ZIP column must be Text in Excel before the merge; a number-formatted column drops the zero and the merge prints 2101 instead of 02101. Load envelopes according to the feed diagram printed on the printer tray, and print a single test envelope before the full run.