Suppress Blank Lines in a mail merge

Anonymous
2010-09-17T14:37:31+00:00

Using Word 2007, I am creating a mail merge. Some addresses have one line, some have two (Suite number, etc.) I want to suppress the second address field only if it is blank, so there are no blank lines in the document after I perform the merge. In older versions of Word, I remember a check box for "suppress blank fields" but I can't seem to find that in 2007.

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Suzanne S Barnhill 279.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2010-09-17T14:59:46+00:00

In general, blank lines are automatically suppressed, but only if they end in a paragraph break, not a line break. Consequently, the default is not a solution for me and perhaps not for you, either. So you have to use an IF field. Assuming your two address lines are the merge fields Address1 and Address2, you'd have something like this.

{ MERGEFIELD Address1 }<line break>

{ IF { MERGEFIELD Address2 } = "" "" "{MERGEFIELD ADDRESS2}<line break>" }

The way that will actually appear in your document is:

{ MERGEFIELD Address1 }

{ IF { MERGEFIELD Address2 } = "" "" "{MERGEFIELD ADDRESS2}

" }

By putting the line break inside the FalseText quotes, you ensure that thereis a line break only if the line contains text; otherwise, there will be no line.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-09-17T18:16:58+00:00

    I searched and searched for the answer to this question as I thought it had to be easier than the solutions people were providing. I stumbled upon one website (I apologize I don't have the reference) that talked about how Word 2010 changed the "Normal spacing" in Paragraph Styles for tables (which labels are considered) is different than previous versions.

    Word 2010 "Normal spacing" inserts an extra space/line between lines. So, notice that when you insert your merge fields that there is more space between the lines than previous versions (which were single spaced).

    Here's how I fixed my labels to suppress empty fields:

    1. Go through the steps to mail merge and create labels
    2. I then set up my mail merge fields how I wanted them to show on the label and the spacing looked like this:

    «Outside_Salutation_1»

    «Company»

    «Address_Line_3»

    «City» «State» «ZIP»-«Zip_Plus4»

    1. Click on "update labels"
    2. Select all and then go to the Home tab and click on "No Spacing" within paragraph styles. (I tried doing this at the beginning of the mail merge and it didn't work.)

    This fixed it for me. I hope it works for all of you pulling your hair out as well!

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-11-15T09:05:21+00:00

    Hi Folks

    Easily solved, just use the "Address Block" option on the Mailings tab. This puts the address data on your envelope, giving you choices as to the content, but does not display a blank line if the data is not present for a particular field.

    The size of the final text as well as font and line spacing can be changed afterwards. I would normally put a text box on my envelope, position the cursor within it and then click "Address Block". The text block allows the address to be positioned on the envelope.

    Best wishes, John

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-03-06T04:17:53+00:00

    Hi,

    A colleague has given what I hope is a definitive solution to this problem.

    1. Click on the Customize Quick Access Toolbar option on your Quick Access Toolbar. Click on "More Commands"
    2. From the dropdown list of "Choose Commands from:" select "All commands".
    3. Select Mail Merge Helper and click "Add >>" to add this to the Quick Access Toolbar.
    4. Click on the Mail Merge Helper on your Quick Access Toolbar.
    5. Under Option 3, you can see the options in effect. Click on the Merge button.
    6. Here choose " Don't print blank lines when data fields are empty", then Merge. It should now merge correctly.

    Regards

    Murray

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-11-12T16:01:47+00:00

    I've been trying to suppress blank line/fields in Microsoft Publisher 2010 -- and after reading several comments, I looked at my FILE "PRINT" and there is was:

    Under Settings, below Records: I saw a box with "Don't print lines without records".  Once I checked the box, I returned to my Mail Merge and the blank lines/records were suppressed.

    Try it, and let me know if it also works in WORD 2010.

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