MS Office: How to Mail Merge Word to Outlook Emails with Different Attachments Using Excel

Can I do a mail merge in Microsoft Word with an attachment, and can the attachment be different for each email?

Yes! If you use a plug-in for Microsoft Word. Office cannot do this by default, but there are plug-ins that can. Below is one example.

To do a mail merge using Microsoft and attachments, you'll have to have 4 things:

1) MS Excel (or maybe Access) to provide rows of recipient names, emails, and attachment filenames.

2) MS Outlook to send the email's through your pre-configured SMTP account.

3) MS Word so you can make an email template, then merge the Excel rows to your attachment, and then send the emails out using Outlook.

4) A plug-in that will allow you to use one of the Excel rows' fields as the attachment.

The plug-in that I tried is called Mail Merge Toolkit and it can be found at MapiLab.com.

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Once you have all of those parts, and the Mail Merge Toolkit installed, you will need to set up your Excel to have a couple of new fields (columns).

You probably will have something like this for columns:

• firstName
• lastName
• emailAddress
• attachmentFilename
• attachmentFolder
• folderAndName

So, it depends on what you're trying to do, but you'll need to keep track of which file is going to whom, and where the file is located on your local computer system.

Perhaps the file is on your local C: drive or maybe it is on a Network drive.

Maybe you're sending only one file or a couple of different files.

Maybe all the files are in one folder, or maybe different folders.

Having 3 columns, like the last 3 above, allows you some flexibility for these situations.

You might want to apply [Format as Table] to your Excel rows, with the first row as headers.

I don't think it really matters what type of file is being attached for Mail Merge Toolkit to work. I tested it with different JPG files of my friends, and it worked fine.

So, a row might look like:

• Jane
• Doe
• jdoe@workitmissthang.com
• jane doe (2).jpg
• C:\myPhotos\potentialClients\
• =CONCATENATE([@attachmentPath],[@attachmentFilename])

The last entry is a formula that stitches together the other two attachment columns.

When you're done, close your Excel file.

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If you installed the Mail Merge Toolkit in Word, make sure you restart Word to see the new feature. There will be a menu on the [Mailings] tab for "Mail Merge Toolkit."

• So, type up your form letter, save it. 
• Choose [Mailings] > Select Recipients > Use an Existing List... 
• Find your data source (Excel spreadsheet), and hit [OK].
• Insert the placeholders where you want them (for firstName, lastName, address, business...) using 
• [Mailings] > Insert Merge Field > {your choice of fields}.
• You're going to leave alone the attachment fields, though.
• Save your form letter again.

Now, test this out before you do a real mass mailing.

Okay, when you're ready to send your mail, you'll go to:

[Mailings] > Mail Merge Toolkit > Merge & Send.

You'll see a pop-up menu that looks like this:

See next to "Attach:"? That's where you'll select the field from you data source -- here it's called "folderAndName"

You can enter a Subject line with a customized string. 

Then, when you're ready, you hit [OK].

One more step. You will be asked to choose the account from which you would like to send. Again, this should have already been setup in Outlook, under Outlook > [File] > [Account Settings].

Good luck. Don't do it without running a test first.

MS Excel Charts: Compare two or more different data lines/sets on the same chart

You have an Excel spreadsheet, and you want to make a chart.
But the data is not comparing the way you want it to.
One line looks fine on your chart, and the other one barely registers.

What you want to do is lay one line on top of the other to find a correlation, if one exists.

ex. Comparing number of website Visitors to Pageviews over time.

Visitors
Jan = 100
Feb = 120
Mar = 205
Apr = 135

Pageviews
Jan = 5000
Feb = 4500
Mar = 7350
Apr = 3700

Your chart might look like this:

It's not wrong, but it's not what you wanted.

The Visitors line is too flat to be visually useful.
The problem is that each visitor looks at about 50 pages, and that makes a huge disparity between the two figures -- 100 visitors looked at 5000 pages.

For a more visually significant comparison, you would want one data line layered on top of the other.

You might be thinking that you need to do some kind of percentage conversion. Or maybe change the values to something more similar.... Nope.

What you need to do is split the vertical / y-axis data series.

To do this:

• Decide which numbers you want on the left side column, and which you want on the right.

I'll put Visitors on the left, and Pageviews on the right.

• Right-click on the line you want on the right side data series -- in this case, the red Pageviews line.
• Choose [Format Data Series] from the pop-up menu.
• The menu should default to [Series Options].
• There will be two options: 1) Primary Axis, 2) Secondary Axis.
• Click on [x] Secondary axis.
• The chart will change, and you need to hit [Close].

The new version of your chart should look like this:

Unfortunately, if you make any changes to your type of chart, you may have to do these steps over again.

There only seems to be room for two data series on a chart, so, if you've got 3 or more different, you'll to find a better way.

(Note: If you find a way to color-coordinate the numbers to match the line, or to add a label at the top of each column to specify which is which, please do let me know.)

Should I upgrade to Windows 8? OH, NO -- Read this before you lose all of your programs!

This past week, I upgraded my Windows Vista computer to the new Windows 8 OS.

OMG, I lost everything -- no, not really, not everything, but ...

Beware, you will lose all of your programs, all of those program settings, and all of the saved passwords and installation.

I would recommend making a bootable copy of your entire drive to a new drive. Then upgrading only on that drive, so you have your old stuff saved.

OR, if you have enough cash, just buy an new computer with Windows 8 already installed.

The Windows 8 experience is very different, and is more of an experiment in touch-screen development than it is ready to improve most users' current workflow.

Do the upgrade wisely if you are adventurous, but I think you are better off just buying a new separate computer than upgrading.

---

The process of upgrading went through successfully and it took a couple of hours to download and install.

All of my files were transferred.
All of my programs disappeared.
Seriously, all of them.

I have to REINSTALL all of these important productivity programs:

Windows Office 2007 -- Word, Access, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote,
Adobe CS3 Suite -- Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash.
Filezilla FTP -- and all of its site settings and passwords.
Skype
Google Chome, Opera, Firefox (It did install I.E.)
Google Drive
Sony Vegas Movie Studio
Quicken
Notepad ++
... and on and on.

I read the instructions, and the notifications during installation, so if I did something wrong, please correct me. But upgrading over top of your existing system is not worth the hassle.

FORTUNATELY, I MADE A DUPLICATE COPY OF MY HARD DRIVE FIRST.
And so should you.

What you'll need.

• 1 hard drive (as big or bigger than you already have -- I got a 1 TB from Best Buy for not too much, to replace my 700GB drive).
• 1 program to make a bootable duplicate (this came with the Seagate hard drive that I purchased).
• A couple of spare hours (you can walk away from it during the process and do other things).
• Ability to open your computer and know how to hook up a second drive.

If you feel confident and competent enough to do this, then you should make the duplicate to the larger drive. 

Then turn off the computer, unhook the old drive so it won't be accidentally messed up.

Hook up the new bootable copy and restart your machine.

It may need to do a long Check Disk proceedure.

After it boots....

• Go to Microsoft Store (if you're doing a digital download).
• Order the Windows 8 upgrade.
• Fill in the purchase info.
• Download the software (took a couple of hours).
• Choose to upgrade later from the desktop.
• You'll get an email or notice at some point verifying your purchase with an activation code.
• When you're ready, click on the icon on your desktop to upgrade.
• Go for it ... 

This is no small adventure, so again, not only will you have a strange new operating system when you're done, you will have to reinstall many important programs. But in the end, Windows 8 seems faster and it's always fun to try something new. I do not recommend or not recommend the new OS at this point. It is simply different and many of the ways to get around are confusing because they are not obvious. 

Create a System Restore Point in Windows 7

It's not obvious how to manually create a system restore point in Windows 7, but it's pretty easy to do.

• Click on [Start] button.
• Right-click on "Computer."
• At the pop-up menu, click on "Properties."
• In the top left, click on "System protection."
• At the pop-up menu, you will be at the "System Protection" tab.
• Look for the section to "Create a restore point right now for the drives that have system protection turned on."
• Click on [Create...]
• Type in a description to help your identify why the Restore Point was created.
• Wait while it says "Creating a restore point...."

When it's done, a confirmation alert will say, "The restore point was created successfully."

Discount student versions of Microsoft Office, Windows 7, Visio?

Is "The Ultimate Steal" legitimate and for-real, or a rip-off scam?

For the last couple of years, Microsoft has run a website called TheUltimateSteal.com. There's not a great deal of information on the site, but it is a totally legitimate site operated for students only. The name, the prices and combined with the sparse info, may make you wonder. But if you can believe this cautious, cheapskate, I can report that the software is fully functioning and checks out with Microsoft's Genuine Software checker.
The cost for Office Ultimate 2007 (as of Feb 2010) is just under $60, and $56 for Visio. There is also a $65 version of Windows 7 Professinal Upgrade (32- or 64-bit version), but I haven't yet given that a try.
So, how do they know you are a student?

1. You say you are a student
2. You use an e-mail address that ends with ".edu"

You will be downloading the software, which is quite a huge download. You need a credit card. And you need to receive your confirmation at your ".edu" e-mail address.
I'm no fan of Microsoft, but I am impressed that they have offered such a great deal to students like me. Without these savings it would cost hundreds of dollars more for me to buy software that will likely be out of date by the time I finish school, and may only use as part of my classroom exposure. Thanks MS!

Enable/Disable Automatic Hyperlinking in Microsoft Outlook 2007

Turn on/off auto linking while your type an e-mail

For months, I've been doing unnecessary work to links in Outlook 2007, Microsoft's ubiquitous e-mail program.

When I pasted a link into the body of the e-mail, it would not turn blue and underline like it was linked. Earlier versions did this before, (even when i didn't want it to).

So, if you want to make MS Outlook 2007 auto-hyperlink while you do this:

1. From the main Outlook window go to Tools > Options
2. Click on [Mail Format] tab
3. Click [Editor Options]
   
4. Click [Proofing]
5. Click [AutoCorrect]
6. Click [AutoFormat As You Type]
7. Check [x] Internet and Network paths with hyperlinks.
8. Click [OK] for all open pop-up menus.
   

Or, if you have an e-mail window open:

1. Click the round Office button in the top left corner.
2. In the bottom left corner click on [Editor Options]
3. Follow steps 4 through 8 above.