In Word, after creating a mail merge, how to save each record as an individual subdocument

Question

I am having inconsistent results among users in my company saving each mail merge record as a subdocument. Some users follow the following procedure and end up with multiple Word subdocuments (the desired result). Others follows the same procedure and result in a single Word document with hyperlinks (undesired, as each link must them be opened one by one and "Save As" a new document).

Here is the procedure we're following, with inconsistent results:

1. Complete the mail merge letter in Word - on the mail merge template, we formatted one data field (the client's name) as a style = Heading 1. These headings/client names do show up like they're supposed to in the Navigation view as "Headings".
2. After the merge is complete, select Finish and Merge > Edit individual documents
3. Select View > Outline
4. Click CTRL+A to select all records
5. In the Master Document menu, select Show Document > Create
6. Click File > Save and save the document in the desired location
7. Ideally, the document saves as individual subdocuments, each named with the data that was formatted as Heading 1 (client name). But for some users, they are resulting with a single Word doc with hyperlinks to individual records.

We have had at least a dozen calls with Microsoft support to try to resolve this issue. Microsoft eventually said they don't have the Word expertise and to post here for help. I'm really hoping someone can help! thank you.

Answer 1

Here are some resources. The first two are Add-Ins; the third is a macro.

• Individual merge letters by Graham Mayor, MVP
• Merge Tools by Doug Robbins, MVP
• See Send Mailmerge Output to Individual Files in Mailmerge Tips & Tricks for a macro that does this

I have used all three and they work for me.

Answer 2

Hi,

Does Charles Kenyon's suggestion help you? If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

Tin