WD: The Merge Button in the Mail Merge Helper Not Available

• Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
• Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

You open an existing main document and a data source document, and the Merge button in the Mail Merge Helper dialog box is dimmed (not available).

CAUSE

For the Merge button to be available in Mail Merge Helper, you must establish a main document and attach a data source. Mail Merge Helper only recognizes a data source and main document that have been linked by using the Create and Get Data buttons. This is true even if the main document was originally created for the data source and the main document was saved as a normal Word document.

WORKAROUND

You can re-establish the label's main document using the following method:

1. Open the originally saved main document.

2. From the Tools menu, click Mail Merge.

3. Click the Create button and then click one type of Main Document: Form Letters, Mailing Labels, Envelopes, or Catalog.

4. Click the Change Document Type button.

5. Click the Get Data button and then click Open Data Source.

6. Select the file from the list and then click OK.

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Word User's Guide," version 6.0, page 635-661