WD2000: How to Force Text to Start at Same Line in Merged Letters

This article describes how to set up a mail merge main document so that the body of the document does not change position when some merge records contain fewer lines than other merge records.

When you choose to suppress blank lines during a merge, Word automatically suppresses those fields that are empty. This feature causes the body text to move up when you perform the merge.

To set up your document so that the body text starts at the same location for each document, create a table with a row set to an exact height; place your mail merge field codes into that row; and place all body text below the table row.

The following example demonstrates how to do this.

Enter the following mail merge codes into the top of your document with the body text below this area, starting at the same place for all documents produced in the mail merge. There may be times that <<Address2>> is blank. You may want that blank line to be suppressed (not printed). By default, it will be; however, in case it is not suppressed (or if the blank line is printed), you can set it to be suppressed (not printed) by following these steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click Mail Merge.
2. Click Merge under number 3 Merge the data with the document.
   
   NOTE: There must be at least one mail merge field in the document for the Merge button to be available.
3. Under When Merging Records, click Don't print blank line when data fields are empty.

If you suppress the <<Address2>> line if it is blank, the body text moves up one line. To prevent this from happening, place the mail merge fields into a table row set to an exact height. To do this, use the method appropriate for your situation.

Method 1: If you want to set up an existing mail merge form letter

1. Select the merge fields in your document.
2. On the Table menu, point to Convert and then click Text To Table.
3. In the Convert Text to Table dialog box, click OK.
4. With the table still selected, click Merge Cells on the Table menu.
5. On the Table menu, click Table Properties.
6. On the Row tab, in the Size section, click to select the Specify height check box and type or select a value in the Specify height box. In the Row Height Is box, select Exactly.
7. Click OK.

Method 2: If you are setting up a new mail merge form letter

1. Move the insertion point to the place where you want the mail merge fields.
2. On the Table menu, point to Insert, and then click Table.
3. In the Number Of Columns box, type 1. In the Number Of Rows box, type 1, and then click OK.
4. On the Table menu, click Table Properties.
5. Click the Row tab.
6. In the Size section, click to select the Specify Height check box and type or select a value in the Row height box. In the Row height is box, select Exactly.
7. Click OK.
8. Insert the merge field codes into the table cell, and type the body text below the table.