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Symptoms

When you perform a mail merge, the merged information may be printed in a different font. This behavior occurs when the default Normal style is different from the font applied to your mail merge main document.

For example, if you choose Courier as the default font for your Normal style but decide to format the main document using Arial, your text prints in Arial, but the merged fields are printed in a Courier font.

Workaround

To work around this problem, use the method appropriate for your situation.


Method 1: Add the Charformat Switch

Edit the merge field and add the Charformat switch. To edit the merge field, follow these steps:

  1. Place the insertion point in the merge field. For example, click into the field similar to the following example:

    <<FirstName>>

  2. Press SHIFT+F9 to view the field code. For example, your merge field should now look similar to the following:

    { MERGEFIELD FirstName }

  3. Move the insertion point to the left of the closing (right) brace (}).

  4. Add the Charformat switch so your merge field now looks similar to the following example:

    { MERGEFIELD FirstName \* Charformat }NOTE: If the word "MERGEFORMAT" appears in this field, delete it and replace it with the word Charformat.

  5. Select the first character following the opening field brace.

    For example, select the "M" within the word MERGEFIELD as in the following example:

    {MERGEFIELD FirstName \* Charformat }Make sure that this character is set to the font and font size that you want. If it is not, change it to the font and font size that you want.

  6. Press SHIFT+F9 to show the result of the field code.

The field does not look any different than it did before, but when you perform the merge, the correct font is used.


Method 2: Change the Normal Style

You can modify the built-in Normal style to match the font that you want. To change the Normal style, follow these steps:

  1. Open your mail merge main document.

  2. On the Format menu, click Style.

  3. In the Style dialog box, under Styles, select Normal and then click Modify.

  4. In the Modify Style dialog box, click Format and then click Font.

    NOTE: If you want your changes to be made permanent and applied to all new documents, click to select the Add to template check box.

  5. On the Font tab, change the font to the font you want your mail merge documents to merge with, and then click OK to close the Font dialog box.

    NOTE: On the Font tab, make any other changes you want to the font.

  6. Click OK to close the Modify Style dialog box, and then click Close to close the Style dialog box.

Method 3: Merge to a New Document and Make Formatting Changes

To merge to a new document and make formatting changes, follow these steps:

  1. Perform your mail merge to a new document.

  2. In the merged document, on the Edit menu, click Select All.

  3. On the Format menu, click Font.

  4. On the Font tab, select the font you want for your merged document and then click OK.

    NOTE: On the Format tab, make any other changes you want to the font.

When you print your merged document, all of the text now is printed using the font that you want.

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