Merging from Word to Entourage - Missing Mail Icon in System Preferences

[vexedgirl]

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can help me figure this out.

When trying to create merge documents in word, I want to merge to email
rather than to my printer. I went to Word help and it said to activate
this I needed to go to the apple, hit system preferences and then
choose the email icon in the system preferences (under internet &
network). No such icon on any of my computers -- I've looked at MS
help and can't find anything telling me why this is happening and how
to make icon appear and also no information through Apple help. So, how
do I get the mail icon to appear so I can follow the directions MS has
in help --- or, is there another way to create merges? I have list in
Excel and want to send personal notes (Dear so and so, etc) to each
individual email.

Thanks!

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

[cross-posting to the Word group for the sake of the archives]

Do you use Entourage as your email program? The only way to merge to email
is to use the Office Address Book (in Entourage) as the merge database. You
can't use a list of addresses in Excel for the email portion, though you
could for the Dear So and So portion.

I'm pretty sure the Help topic you refer to was trying to tell you how to
set Entourage as your default mail program, and it sounds like you looked at
the directions for a different OS than the one you have, which is why they
don't seem correct. Or the Office X version may be outdated for that topic.

What version of Office and OS are you using? Then you can get more concrete
help, whether it's how to set up the merge in Word or how to get the
addresses from Excel into Entourage.

 

[vexedgirl]

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate any help or suggestions you can
give. Perhaps I'm not explaining this well...

I am using OS 10.4.3 (other computers are using a lesser version of OS
10 and are also having the same problem). For Word, Entourage, etc I
am using Office X (Entourage X, Word X, etc)

According to Microsoft, etc - I should be able to open Word, use my
merge wizard (accessing data that I have in an Excel file) to do a
merge letter --- at the bottom of the merge wizard Word gives you
several options (preview, send to printer or send to email) --- I am
having no problem sending to printer or previewing --- the send to
email is ghosted out and won't let me select.

When you go to help --- it says that in order to get it to work I need
to go in to the Apple System preferences and select email, etc.

Problem is, when I go into System Preferences, there is no email icon
at all. So, I can't select.

Entourage is the primary program that all of us use here (we never use
the Mac email program) although when there are forms on websites for us
to send an email that's the email program that ends up opening (instead
of Entourage).

Basically, what I'm looking to do is take one of my contact lists and
send each an individualized letter via email.

Thanks!

AB

[cross-posting to the Word group for the sake of the archives]

Do you use Entourage as your email program? The only way to merge to email
is to use the Office Address Book (in Entourage) as the merge database. You
can't use a list of addresses in Excel for the email portion, though you
could for the Dear So and So portion.

I'm pretty sure the Help topic you refer to was trying to tell you how to
set Entourage as your default mail program, and it sounds like you looked at
the directions for a different OS than the one you have, which is why they
don't seem correct. Or the Office X version may be outdated for that topic.

What version of Office and OS are you using? Then you can get more concrete
help, whether it's how to set up the merge in Word or how to get the
addresses from Excel into Entourage.

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can help me figure this out.

When trying to create merge documents in word, I want to merge to email
rather than to my printer. I went to Word help and it said to activate
this I needed to go to the apple, hit system preferences and then
choose the email icon in the system preferences (under internet &
network). No such icon on any of my computers -- I've looked at MS
help and can't find anything telling me why this is happening and how
to make icon appear and also no information through Apple help. So, how
do I get the mail icon to appear so I can follow the directions MS has
in help --- or, is there another way to create merges? I have list in
Excel and want to send personal notes (Dear so and so, etc) to each
individual email.

Thanks!

--
Daiya Mitchell, MVP Mac/Word
Word FAQ: http://www.word.mvps.org/
MacWord Tips: <http://www.word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/>
What's an MVP? A volunteer! Read the FAQ:

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Hi AB,

When you go to help --- it says that in order to get it to work I need
to go in to the Apple System preferences and select email, etc.

Because Entourage needs to be your default email program. But as of OS
10.3, Apple went all crackhead and hid that preference in the Preferences
for the program Mail. Office X Help was written around 10.0, so it doesn't
know that, and is directing you to System Preferences, and that is wrong for
OS 10.3 and 10.4.

You (and the rest of your office) need to launch Mail (apple's email
program), go into the Preferences, look under General, and set the default
email program to be Entourage. Quit all Office programs first, then
relaunch them after changing the default email program.
(then Entourage will open when you click a mail-to link on a webpage)

That's the preliminary first step. Once that is set, the Merge to Email icon
should come active. However, here in Word 2004--it does not come active
until after I chose a data source and dragged at least one record into the
Word doc. Then it was activated.

After setting up the merge as your letter (dear so and so), click on Merge
to Email and set the To field to the column that has the email addresses.

And I was wrong about not being able to use a list of addresses in Excel to
merge to email, thanks, not sure what I was thinking there.

I can't test merging in Word X because I don't have Entourage X set up, but
post back if things appear to be different.

Daiya

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate any help or suggestions you can
give. Perhaps I'm not explaining this well...

I am using OS 10.4.3 (other computers are using a lesser version of OS
10 and are also having the same problem). For Word, Entourage, etc I
am using Office X (Entourage X, Word X, etc)

According to Microsoft, etc - I should be able to open Word, use my
merge wizard (accessing data that I have in an Excel file) to do a
merge letter --- at the bottom of the merge wizard Word gives you
several options (preview, send to printer or send to email) --- I am
having no problem sending to printer or previewing --- the send to
email is ghosted out and won't let me select.

When you go to help --- it says that in order to get it to work I need
to go in to the Apple System preferences and select email, etc.

Problem is, when I go into System Preferences, there is no email icon
at all. So, I can't select.

Entourage is the primary program that all of us use here (we never use
the Mac email program) although when there are forms on websites for us
to send an email that's the email program that ends up opening (instead
of Entourage).

Basically, what I'm looking to do is take one of my contact lists and
send each an individualized letter via email.

Thanks!

AB

[cross-posting to the Word group for the sake of the archives]

Do you use Entourage as your email program? The only way to merge to email
is to use the Office Address Book (in Entourage) as the merge database. You
can't use a list of addresses in Excel for the email portion, though you
could for the Dear So and So portion.

I'm pretty sure the Help topic you refer to was trying to tell you how to
set Entourage as your default mail program, and it sounds like you looked at
the directions for a different OS than the one you have, which is why they
don't seem correct. Or the Office X version may be outdated for that topic.

What version of Office and OS are you using? Then you can get more concrete
help, whether it's how to set up the merge in Word or how to get the
addresses from Excel into Entourage.

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can help me figure this out.

When trying to create merge documents in word, I want to merge to email
rather than to my printer. I went to Word help and it said to activate
this I needed to go to the apple, hit system preferences and then
choose the email icon in the system preferences (under internet &
network). No such icon on any of my computers -- I've looked at MS
help and can't find anything telling me why this is happening and how
to make icon appear and also no information through Apple help. So, how
do I get the mail icon to appear so I can follow the directions MS has
in help --- or, is there another way to create merges? I have list in
Excel and want to send personal notes (Dear so and so, etc) to each
individual email.

Thanks!