Microsoft KB Archive/225000

= WD2000: Outlook Categories Field Unavailable in Mail Merge =

Article ID: 225000

Article Last Modified on 5/22/2003

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Word 2000 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Outlook 2000 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q225000





SYMPTOMS
When you use the Microsoft Outlook 2000 Contact List as a data source for a Microsoft Word 2000 mail merge, the Outlook Categories field is not available for insertion into the document as a merge field.



CAUSE
The converter that is used to convert the Outlook address book into a format that Word can read for mail merge brings across only 40 of the more than 80 pre-defined Outlook fields.



WORKAROUND
To use your contacts from a particular Outlook category in a Word mail merge, use one of the following methods:

Method 1: Use Outlook to merge your Contacts list.
This process creates a main document in Word. When you click Insert Merge Field, the Categories field is available.

To use Outlook to merge your Contacts list, follow these steps:


 * 1) Start Microsoft Outlook.
 * 2) Under Outlook Shortcuts, click Contacts.
 * 3) On the Tools menu, click Mail Merge.

Outlook provides a new feature that allows you to do a mail merge with your Contacts list from within Outlook.

For additional information about mail merge and Microsoft Outlook, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

192258 OL2000: How to Mail Merge Using Contacts

197716 OL2000: Field Differences Between Outlook and Word Mail Merge

Method 2: Export the Contacts folder.
To export the Contacts folder as a text file, follow these steps in Outlook:


 * 1) On the File menu, click Import And Export.
 * 2) In the Import And Export Wizard, select Export to a file, and click Next.
 * 3) Select either Comma Separated Values (Windows) or Tab Separated Values (Windows), and click Next.
 * 4) In the Export to a File dialog box, select the Contacts folder, and click Next.
 * 5) In the Save exported file as box, type a name and path for the file, and click Next.
 * 6) Click Map Custom Fields.
 * 7) Select all the fields you want, including Categories, for exporting, and click OK.
 * 8) Click Finish to export the data.

You can use the resulting file as a Word mail merge data source.

Method 3: Create a new Contacts folder.
To copy the Category contacts you want to a new Contacts folder, follow these steps in Outlook:
 * 1) On the File menu, point to New, and then click Folder.
 * 2) In the Create New Folder dialog box, in the Name box, type a name for the new folder.
 * 3) Under the Folder Contains box, choose Contact Items.
 * 4) Select a location for your new folder under the Make this folder a subfolder of list, and click OK.
 * 5) Select your current Contacts folder.
 * 6) On the View menu, point to Current View, and then click By Category.
 * 7) Expand the category you want to expose all the items.
 * 8) Select all the items in the chosen category that you want to include in your mail merge.
 * 9) Right-click the selected contacts, and drag them to the new Contacts folder.
 * 10) On the shortcut menu, click Copy.

You can now use this new folder as a Word mail merge data source.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

Keywords: kbbug kbnofix KB225000

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