Templates, mail merge, printing and sharing

In this lesson you will learn

Use a ready-made template and save your own as .dotx
Run a mail merge from an Excel list
Choose print settings, share a document and check its accessibility

Thirty students took part in an olympiad, and each needs a certificate with their name on it. Filling in 30 documents one by one would take an hour, and a mistake would surely creep in. In Word you design one certificate, connect the list of names from Excel — and 30 finished pages appear in a few minutes. In this lesson you will learn the tools that speed up your work in Word and help you share it with others.

Templates

A template is a ready-made mould for new documents: layout, styles, logo, even sample text. In File › New, type a word such as “resume”, “invitation” or “certificate” in the search box and pick a template — Word creates a new document from it and the template itself stays unchanged. To save your own letterhead (say, your class's official letter) as a template, choose the Word Template (*.dotx) type in File › Save As. You will then find it under File › New › Personal.

Mail merge

Definition

Mail merge

Combining one main document with a list of data to produce a separate letter, certificate, envelope or label for each row.

Example: 30 certificates

An Excel file has the columns Name, Class and Place, one student per row. Produce a certificate for each student showing their own name, class and place.

Show solution

1. Type the certificate text, leaving gaps where the details will go.
2. Choose Mailings › Start Mail Merge › Start Mail Merge › Letters.
3. With Mailings › Select Recipients › Use an Existing List…, pick the Excel file and the sheet (its first row must hold the column headers).
4. Put the cursor where the name goes and choose Mailings › Insert Merge Field › Name — a «Name» field appears in the text. Add «Class» and «Place» the same way.
5. Click Mailings › Preview Results and use the arrows to check a few students' certificates.
6. Choose Mailings › Finish & Merge › Edit Individual Documents… › All — Word creates a new document with one page per student. Check it, save it and print.

The same list can produce envelopes and labels too: choose Envelopes… or Labels… in the Mailings › Start Mail Merge list. For a guided version, pick Step-by-Step Mail Merge Wizard….

Printing

File › Print (Ctrl+P) — settings on the left, preview on the right. At the top you set Copies and pick the printer.
In the Print All Pages list choose Print Current Page or Custom Print; type e.g. 1-3,5 in Pages to print pages 1, 2, 3 and 5.
Instead of Print One Sided, choose Print on Both Sides (if the printer supports it) or Manually Print on Both Sides — to save paper.
The 1 Page Per Sheet list at the bottom fits 2, 4 or more pages on one sheet — handy for checking drafts.

Sharing, co-authoring and accessibility

The Share button in the top-right corner saves the document to OneDrive and lets you invite others: type an email address or copy a link, and choose the permission — Can edit or Can view. Several people can edit the same document at the same time: each person's cursor appears in its own colour and changes reach everyone within seconds. Type @ and a classmate's name in a comment and they get a notification.

1
Check accessibility
Open Review › Accessibility › Check Accessibility. The pane lists problems: pictures without alt text, tables without a header row, hard-to-read colours. Click each one and pick the suggested fix.
2
Remove hidden information
File › Info › Check for Issues › Inspect Document finds leftover comments, tracked changes and personal information such as the author's name, and offers to remove them.
3
Send it
If the document shouldn't change, send it as a PDF; if you will work on it together, share a link with Share.

Time-saving shortcuts

Print and print previewCtrl+P

Insert a hyperlinkCtrl+K

Repeat the last actionF4

Go back to the last editShift+F5

Copy formatting (Ctrl+Shift+V — paste formatting)Ctrl+Shift+C

Show Key Tips letters on the ribbon: choose commands without the mouseAlt

Search box: find a command by nameAlt+Q

Interactive

Loading simulation…

Review the most important shortcuts from the course.

Key points

A template is a mould for new documents; save your own as Word Template (*.dotx).
Mail merge: Start Mail Merge › Select Recipients › Insert Merge Field › Preview Results › Finish & Merge.
Ctrl+P opens printing; use Custom Print to print only the pages you need.
With Share, several people can edit a document at the same time.
Before sending, check the document with Check Accessibility and Inspect Document.

Check yourself

10 questions. Every correct answer earns XP.

1 / 10

Which file type do you choose to save your letterhead as a template?