The Merge That Skipped Records
You are producing 180 personalised invitation letters from a spreadsheet with columns Title, FirstName, LastName, Company, and Email. The main document contains «Title» «FirstName» «LastName» and a company line. After merging, you find: 12 letters show 'Dear ,' with no name, several letters show the company name where the first name should be, and one record produced a letter addressed to 'Mr Smith' twice. The spreadsheet has 184 rows, some with blank cells and some with merged cells in the header area.
1. What causes 'Dear ,' and how do you find every affected record before printing?
Read the worked answer
Blank cells in the data source produce empty merge fields, so 'Dear ,' appears. Rather than scanning 180 letters, use the merge tools: in the data source filter or sort for blanks in FirstName, or run a test merge and use Find in the merged document to locate empty field patterns. Fixing the source (fill or exclude blank records) and re-merging is safer than patching individual letters, which risks missing some.
2. Why might the company name appear where the first name should be, and what do you check?
Read the worked answer
This usually means the merge fields were mapped to the wrong columns, or the field codes were inserted against the wrong data field. Open Edit Recipient List / Match Fields and confirm each merge field maps to the correct column. Also check the field codes in the main document (toggle Alt+F9) to confirm «FirstName» references FirstName, not Company. Correct the mapping once and re-merge.
3. What explains the duplicate 'Mr Smith' letter, and how do you remove it?
Read the worked answer
Duplicates come from duplicate rows in the source or from merged cells causing a record to be read twice. Sort the spreadsheet by LastName then FirstName and remove exact duplicate rows, or use Remove Duplicates. Then re-merge. If duplicates remain, use Edit Recipient List to clear the duplicate checkbox rather than deleting letters after the merge, which is error-prone at 180 records.