Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Conditional Processing During a Mail Merge.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 2, 2016)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
When using Word's mail merge feature, you are not limited to using only the actual data fields when putting together your merge document. Word also includes special fields that allow you to conditionally control how Word does the merging. These types of fields can be easily inserted by clicking on the Insert Word Field drop-down list on the Mail Merge toolbar. The three fields you can use for conditional processing are as follows:
You cannot use Word's conditional mail-merge fields to compare values in any record other than the current one. It would be very nice to compare the contents of a data field in the current record with the contents of the same data field in the previous record, but Word will unfortunately not allow it.
One possible workaround to this shortcoming—if you are using an Excel worksheet as your data source—is to simply copy the controlling field (column) to another column, and then offset it by one row. Here is an example:
| Item | Category | OldCat | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dogs | 1 | |||
| Cats | 1 | 1 | ||
| Birds | 2 | 1 | ||
| Pigs | 3 | 2 |
As Word processes each record of the data source, the value of the OldCat data field is the same as the contents of the Category data field in the previous record. Thus, you could use a compound field such as the following to check and act upon the comparison between the fields:
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here:
{IF {MERGEFIELD Category} <> {MERGEFIELD OldCat} "first text" "second text"}
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (287) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Conditional Processing During a Mail Merge.
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2019-06-14 03:36:54
Dustin Avery
Documate.org has a great tool for building conditional logic into contracts and contract sets.
2018-02-15 00:55:49
Mike
My Mail Merge used to work, but now it doesn't. I'm running. Win. 7 & Office 10. I have a Word document with merge fields embedded & an Excel data file. It doesn't follow the Rule "Skip Record if" and it doesn't fill in the merge codes into the merged docs. This is so for both hard copy & email merges. What to do? S/W or operator error? Thanks
2016-12-06 11:29:42
Placide
I need to know if there is any formula I can add in a mail merged cell for underlining a value under the average, ex. 4/10. The mailed value will be the number 4 underlined. I need your help.
2016-11-17 14:41:50
Warren
it is possible to have multiple conditions
e.g.
{IF {MERGEFIELD amount} > And {MERGEFIELD balance} > 0 "Text here"}
2016-11-02 14:55:47
John N
Is it possible to create a mail merge directory with distinct sections, each one pulling data based on multiple criteria?
For example: A first section pulls data from field A when field B falls within a certain date range and field C equals "one"; the second section pulls data from field A when field B falls within a certain date range and field C equals "two"; etc.
2016-07-02 08:38:52
Fred Burg
It may not be clear to the casual reader what the difference is between Next Record If and Skip Record If. Jumping to the next record would seem to be the same as ignoring the current record.
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