You have not executed the merge. All that you are doing is previewing the
results (and under ToolsOptionsView, the Always show field shading is set)
You need to executed the merge to a new deocument or to the printer.

This issue commonly arises with people who use the mail merge wizard in Word
XP or 2003. I suggest that from the View menu, you select Toolbars and then
check the Mail merge item and then use the buttons on the right hand end of
the toolbar to complete your merge.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

"trainer07" wrote in message
...
I am trying to use mail merge to create letters. I am using data from an
Excel spreadsheet for my mail merge. When the data comes over into my
Word
document, the information appears, but it is highlighted in grey. It's
like
Word forgot to get rid of the grey once the merge was completed. I have
tried to turn on the mail merge converter (Tools Options General Tab
Confirm conversion at open), but that does not help. Any help would be
greatly appreciated!!