Solved cannot delete mail merge file

[Windymiller]

I am trying for the first time to create mail merge files for my Christmas Card List.

I opened a Windows document and proceeded to create a file for using an Avery product. This went well until I clicked on view grid lines. The document simply showed a mass of very small squares.

I decided I did not know what I was doing so tried to delete the file but it will not go away. Its title is doc1.odt I have tried the recommended procedure - clicking on mail merge / main document/normal doc but nothing happens. I have tried doing this with and without saving the document. Saving it merely proliferates to doc2.odt doc3.odt etc. I think I have managed to delete doc2 and doc3 but I cannot delete the main document. The heading above the actual file is "Document1 Microsoft Word non-commercial use.

It is very annoying because it is preventing me from using the task bar icon Word to open new documents.

Would be grateful for any advice.

 

[MoxieMomma]

Hi:

I don't use Mail Merge, but we can probably see if we can find some help.

First: Can you please clarify what is a "Windows document"?

Do you mean MS Word document?
If so, what version of MS Office is it (2007, 2010, 2013, 2016)?

Also, can you please tell us the exact wording of any error message and/or a screenshot of the problem?

Thanks,

MM

 

[MoxieMomma]

Hi, again:

While waiting to hear back from you with the information requested in the previous reply, I found these:


For Word 2007 (I don't know if that's your version):
Use Word to open or save a document in the OpenDocument Text (.odt) format - Word

Applies to Office 2007 & 2010, and to Word 2013 & 2016:
Differences between the OpenDocument Text (.odt) format and the Word (.docx) format - Office Support

*.odt files seem to created in Open-Source "Office-Type" programs, such as Libre Office.
Is that where you got the original file????
It looks as if mail-merge ought to be supported, but we need more information from you to tease this out.

Thanks,
MM

 

[Windymiller]

Thank you for your detailed reply.Computer Properties says I am using Windows 7 Home Premium SP1. The file I am trying to set up as my mailing list document is a Word document with docx extension. But I had not actually tried to merge it. The problem occurred when I tried to set up what Microsoft help calls the main document. I did this in Word and am puzzled why it has saved as an odt file when I have been using Office 2010 for some time and this was a new Word document.Fortunately, overnight, the doc1.odt file disappeared ! I had previously tried restarting and shutting down to get rid of it and that had not worked so at least my original problem is "solved" if you can call disappearance a solution !I will try again and make sure I do not save as an odt file. That seems to be what caused the problem.I wont mark this solved in case I run into another error. Thank you so much for bothering with this problem. I could print my labels by simply copying and pasting but would like to set up a mail merge as I am elderly and it suits me better to take the time to set up a simple system that will work every year and will also help my son in the event he has to notify all my friends of my decease !

Later:

Tried again saving as a docx file but viewing grid files does not result in Avery product related grid lines. Looked on web and have seen suggestions that Avery is not supported by Office 2010 64 bit and I need to reduce to 32 bit to use Avery. Is this so ? Also that I do not need Office 2010 64 bit unless I want to set up Excel files in excess of 2 GB.

I also read that problems can be caused by zoom factor being less than 100 % but mine is set to 100 % so it is not that.

Any advice very welcome even if only it isn`t worth all this trouble and to give up and copy and paste !

Thanks again to anyone reading this.

 

[MoxieMomma]

Hi:

Thanks for all the detail.

It sounds as if you are running MS Office 2010 (64-bit) on a Windows 7 HP system that was upgraded from Vista.

>>My first question: Are you sure you have MS Office 2010 (64-bit), not MS Office 2010 (32-bit) running on this computer???
>> HERE is a tutorial explaining how to find out.
>>Please tell us if you have MS Office 2010 (32-bit) or MS Office (64-bit), and/or post a screen shot of the dialog window that you see when you run the tutorial.

If you do indeed have 64-bit MS Office installed, then I suppose it's possible that there could be a compatibility issue with Avery templates. (Very few home or even business users need/run 64-bit Office.)
I do not know for sure and cannot test because my own (64-bit) Win7 systems use the 32-bit version of Office 2010. I have never had a problem with Avery and 32-bit MS Office.

However, I certainly would NOT suggest that you uninstall 64-bit MS Office to replace it with 32-bit MS Office just to "fix" this somewhat minor issue. That would be a LOT of work with lots of ways things could get messed up.

If this were my computer, I would live with the "bug" (if it really is a bug) or I would find another way to perform the mail merge. Perhaps it might have been a fluke or a minor case of "operator error"?

Thanks,
MM

 

[Windymiller]

I am sorry I never replied to this. In the finish I found my husband had a copy and we altered that manually. I don`t suppose I really need mail merge any way. I got submerged in the Christmas rush. Many thanks for trying to help. Marking this as solved.