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The mail merge function in Microsoft Word works only with a flat data file as a 'One-to-One' merge i.e. a separate document for each record.

There have been various approaches proposed to enable the merging of lists associated with records that share a common 'key' field - for example a list of purchased items from a particular customer where multiple separate product items are associated with each customer. Microsoft's own suggested approach is quite complicated and recorded at How to use mail merge to create a list sorted by category

Fellow Word MVP Paul Edstein has posted a tutorial on this, with working field codes and a sample Excel data source which you can download from this web site but it can be a tad bewildering and even Paul would concede that creating this type of merge can be intimidating for those unskilled in mail merge.

To overcome this difficulty another Antipodean MVP and occasional contributor to this site, Doug Robbins, produced an add-in to attempt to simplify the process. I developed the principles Doug had come up with to form the basis of an add-in, the use of which is described on this page.

The original versions of the add-in have not been without problems. In an effort to reduce some of the issues users have experienced, the add-in was completely redeveloped for Version 3.0

The add-in is supplied in DOTM template format for Word 2007/2010 and includes a modification to the Mailings Tab of the ribbon.

The add-in requires the data source used for the merge to be in Excel format, with Outlook as the default e-mail application for Windows. Where Outlook is not available, the options to merge to e-mail will not be available. The function uses the Shell32.DLL object library to determine whether Outlook is available. With some operating systems, notably Windows 7 - 64 bit, Shell32.DLL may not be available by default and thus produce an error when the function is started. Where that is an issue, download the explanatory document, which should help you resolve it.

If there are likely to be some rows with no data in some of the Excel data source fields, all of the cells that represent the data source must be formatted as text. Otherwise, errors can occur, when the routine encounters a type of data that it is not expecting.

The data must be sorted by the field that is going to be used as the key field. Not sorting it that way will not cause an error, but the desired result will not be achieved.

When merging to e-mail, ensure that the e-mail addresses are in a valid format and that all the records have a valid e-mail address. The add-in will detect invalid e-mail addresses. Where records do not have a valid e-mail address you must correct the address, replace it with a valid address (such as your own e-mail address)  or use a dummy address as in the example data supplied with the add-in.

When merging to e-mail, the application should start Outlook, if it is not already running, but such is the relationship between the Office products that this may not happen. It is therefore advisable to start Outlook before running the application.

The appropriate add-in should be should be extracted to the Word start-up folder. By default the start-up folder location is a hidden location, but it can easily be located by typing %appdata%\Microsoft\Word\Startup in the address bar of Windows Explorer or your Internet Explorer browser.

Alternatively you can use the self extracting installer that is also supplied in the download file.

For the purpose of explanation of the use of the add-in, a sample merge document and an Excel data source are included in the zip file. An extract of the relevant part of the merge document is included below.

The merge document must be set up as a conventional letter merge.

While testing the e-mail options with the sample data source, it is advisable to configure Outlook not to send messages immediately!

The messages created by the application will go to a sub folder of the Outlook Drafts folder called 'Merge Many To One'. Messages are only sent when you choose to send them. If you have the option set to send messages immediately when connected, then that is exactly what will happen, so do not do that unless you really do want to send the messages to the recipients indicated in the data file. The example data supplied with add-in contains dummy e-mail addresses and so it will not matter too much if you send the messages. They will only be bounced back with a delivery failure error.

With the example document, the 'Key field' is OWNER and the 'Child fields' are PROP_ID,  LEGAL_DESC. and for the totalled fields ACRES and VALUE

With lists of items, it is often desirable to provide a total of the values of one of more of the listed fields. This can be done quite simply, subject to two provisos.

1. That the values returned from the data source are numeric. It may be stating the obvious but you cannot total values that are not numeric. Numbers formatted with currency symbols should be OK.

2. The list of values is in a table cell.

Having setup the merge document and data source, the next step is to run the macro.

The e-mail options provide the ability to select both a signature and the sending account, should you have more than one account. You may also enter a suitable subject line and a covering message.

When 'Continue' is clicked, the messages are sent to a temporary sub folder of the Outlook drafts folder (to ensure a unique location). You will have the choice of removing the temporary folder later when you send the messages. The function looks for the presence of the folder and if it is not present will create it. There is an additional button on the ribbon that provides a function to remove the temporary folder should you change your mind about retaining it. When removed the temporary folder is removed completely. It is not merely moved to the Deleted items folder.

The temporary folder allows the safe examination of the messages and attached documents produced, before committing to sending them. They will only be sent when the 'Send Messages' button is clicked.

If you have Outlook configured to send messages immediately when connected (see below), clicking the 'Send Messages' button, irretrievably sends the messages to their destination e-mail addresses.

If you have the option set not to send messages immediately when connected, then you have a further opportunity to change your mind. However if you choose not to send at the prompt, then you must use the Outlook Send and Receive function to send on the messages. The button on the Word Mailings ribbon only sends messages that are in the temporary folder.

The option to merge to the body of an e-mail message, which appeared in some earlier versions of the add-in, has been removed.

It is essential that the e-mail addresses in the data source are both present and valid when an option to merge to e-mail is selected. When such an option is selected, the add-in will examine all the e-mail addresses in the record set and if any addresses do not meet the required standards for e-mail address formats, the process will be stopped and you will see a warning message and the erroneous record numbers and associated e-mail addresses are listed in a new document to help you locate and correct them. Note that it is the record number shown and not the row number in the Excel worksheet.