While you might not consider Microsoft Word when creating and maintaining a digital scrapbook, it offers some benefits you can use when clipping and gluing photos to its pages. However, combining Word files without modifying the original format can be tricky. Typically, copying and pasting content from one Microsoft Word document into another isn’t the most efficient way to combine or merge Word Documents.
If the document consists of several files with complex formatting, this can be a time-consuming process. In addition, an inadvertent click can cause the current document to be rewritten to look like the document you’re pasting into instead of the document you’re pasting from. Here’s the best way to merge Word documents. This post will guide you on ways to combining multiple Microsoft Word documents into one.
How to Combine or Merge Microsoft Word Documents
We’ve compiled a list of various methods one can follow, ranging from combining them offline on the device to merging them using free online tools.
- Merge Multiple Word Documents using Insert
- Merge Two Versions of a Single Document
- Use Online Tools to Merge Word Documents
This feature works in MacBook, Old version of Office including 2007, 2010, and 2019. First, make sure you have Microsoft Office installed on your laptop or PC.
1] Merge Multiple Word Documents using Insert
Instead of copying the contents of a file from one to another, Microsoft Word has a handy tool built-in, which allows users to merge important documents easily, without making any formatting changes. Here’s how you can use it:
- Start by opening the file you’d like to have as the main document, that is, the file in which the content has to be copied.
- Next, place the cursor at the point you want to insert the contents of the secondary file.
- Navigate to the Insert tab and choose the Object tool under Text.
- In the new Object Dialog Box, head over to the Create from the File section and choose the Browse.
- Now, locate and select the files (could be more than one) you want to insert into the document and click OK.
With this, all the contents of the secondary document will now be automatically copied into the main file. Make sure to delete pages from the document that are not required.
2] Combine Two Versions of a Single Document
Let’s say multiple users are working on the same document, which could lead to having multiple versions of the same document. One can also use Microsoft Word’s built-in tools to merge two different versions into a single document. Here’s how to go about it:
- Navigate to the Review Tab and choose the Compare option
- In the drop-down, select the Combine tool (that reads Combine revisions from multiple authors into a single document).
- Next, under the Combine Documents window, select the original document by bringing up the drop-down and selecting the main file.
- Now, under Revised Document, locate and select the file with the changes.
- Before finalizing, head over to the More section and personally tweak the merge settings as per your requirements.
- Finally, click on OK to make the changes.
3] Use Online Tools to Merge Word Documents
Alternatively, if you’re not familiar with all these Microsoft Word settings and options or are facing some difficulties, you can use a simple online tool such as the one from SmallPDF to merge two documents with just a matter of a couple of clicks.
- In a web browser, head over to Smallpdf’s Merge PDF tool.
- Click on the Choose Files button and select all the files you’d like to combine.
- Once the files are uploaded, you’ll have the option to either Merge Files or Merge Individual Pages. Select the former option and click on Choose Option to continue.
- You’ll now be asked to rearrange the files in the order you’d like to see the output. Once rearranged, click on Merge PDF to receive the output file.
It should be possible to merge multiple documents that use the same Word format, so the formatting, images, and other original document content move to the new one. First, however, ensure that the process has been completed flawlessly once the output is generated.
How Do I Merge Word Documents without Losing Formatting?
When you insert or merge documents as text from a file, then the formatting of the original document is retained. Make sure to create a page break for each merger. You can also manually copy-paste if there are a few documents.
How Do I Merge Word Documents without Changing Page Numbers?
- First, create a backup or a copy of the document you are starting with.
- Use Page Down to reach the end of the document, and insert a next-page section break.
- Now that you can see the cursor on the new page, you can Format th1e page number. Restart to start it with 1
- Next, open the second document, and insert a continuous page break.
- Copy the content, and paste it into the first document. Repeat.
How Do I Merge Word Documents without Losing Headers and Footers?
Similar to how page numbers can be maintained, headers and footers can also be kept. You need to split the document into sections by inserting page breaks.
That said, how often do you end up merging Word documents? Do let us know by dropping a comment down below.
