Microsoft Word mail merge not available

[Guest]

Microsoft Word from Office 2000 install does not have mail
merge as a choice under the tools menu item. Office 2000
is loaded on a Windows 98 machine. Office 2000 install on
a Windows 2000 machine does have the mail merge menu item.

Help does not list a way to turn this menu item on and
off. I have checked the installation to see if there is a
choice for it to be installed.

 

[Beth Melton]

Did Word come installed as part of Works Suite? If so the "Microsoft
Works Suite Add-In for Word" is known to overpopulate and
underpopulate the Mail Merge command on the Tools menu along with a
handful of other problems.

Go to your Control Panel and in Add/Remove programs uninstall the
"Works Suite Add-in". Note that this doesn't uninstall Works, it just
removes some of the Works functionality in Word.

Once this is complete then locate Normal.dot and rename it to
OldNormal.dot. Word will create a new one upon starting. I recommend
this since the add-in is known to cause file bloat in Normal.dot.

If this resolves the problem, any customizations can be copied to the
new Normal.dot via the Organizer (Tools/Templates and Add-Ins) Once
this is complete OldNormal.dot can be discarded. If the problem still
exists then you can delete the new Normal.dot and rename your
OldNormal.dot to Normal.dot.

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Tim]

Checked loaded programs the Works Suite Add-In for Word is
not listed. There are three listings for Microsoft Works
2000.

Tried renaming normal.dot to normalold.dot and reopened
word. Mail merge is still not listed.

 

[Beth Melton]

Hi Tim,

There could be another add-in causing the Mail Merge command to be
removed. Take a look under Tools/Templates and Add-ins and deselect
each add-in one at a time and check the Tools menu. If the Mail Merge
command appears then the add-in is the culprit.

The add-in would be located in either your Office\Startup folder or
the Word Startup folder. You can move it out of the folder to prevent
it from loading when Word starts. The Office\Startup folder is located
in the Office installation path or profile depending on your os and
how Office was installed. The location of your Word Startup folder can
be found under Tools/Options/File Locations.

If you find the add-in is one you use then post back and we may be
able to help you clean up the add-in's menu bar. (This depends on how
the menu bar was customized in the add-in.)

Failing that, although toolbar customizations are stored in Normal.dot
you might try resetting the Menu Bar or manually adding the Mail Merge
command back.

To reset the menu bar:

- Go to Tools/Customize
- Select the Toolbars tab if necessary
- Select "Menu bar"
- Click the "Reset" command

To manually add the item:
- In Tools/Customize select the Commands tab
- Select the "All Commands" Category on the left
- Locate the "Mail Merge Helper" command on the right
- Drag/drop the command back into place on the Tools menu

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/