--- title: "Clean Up Before or During a Mail Merge Operation" --- Aspose.Words allows you to apply different cleaning and removing options such as deleting merge fields before performing a Mail Merge operation or removing unused regions during a Mail Merge operation. This section will explain how to delete merged fields and how to set up a removing option. ## Delete Merged Fields When you are using some long template that is created by someone else, you may want to delete all the merge fields that already exist in that template before performing a Mail Merge operation. You can use the [DeleteFields](https://reference.aspose.com/words/cpp/aspose.words.mailmerging/mailmerge/deletefields/) method if you want to delete all merge fields from a document without executing a Mail Merge operation. This method is not affected by any removing options of the [CleanupOptions](https://reference.aspose.com/words/cpp/aspose.words.mailmerging/mailmerge/get_cleanupoptions/) property and executing it only removes merged fields, not any containing fields or empty paragraphs. The following code example shows how to delete all merge fields from your template without executing a Mail Merge operation: {{< gist "aspose-words-gists" "d55d8631947d283b1f0da99afa06c492" "Examples-DocsExamples-source-Programming with Documents-Working with Fields-DeleteFields.h" >}} ## Set Up a `Removing` Option Aspose.Words enables you to remove unmerged fields, regions, and paragraphs from a template during a Mail Merge operation using removing options. Use the **CleanupOptions** property along with the [MailMergeCleanupOptions](https://reference.aspose.com/words/cpp/aspose.words.mailmerging/mailmergecleanupoptions/) enumeration to set the removing option. Specify which items you want to remove by choosing the following options (you can combine more than one): * Remove empty paragraphs * Remove unused regions * Remove unused fields * Remove containing fields * Remove static fields * Remove empty table rows You can consider a merge field as unmerged in one of the following conditions: 1. If the merge field in the data source does not have a column or a mapping field. 2. If the merge field in the data source contains a mapping field but the data is null. {{% alert color="primary" %}} If you are merging data using separate data sources then those removing options will be enabled only with the last call of the Mail Merge execute method. {{% /alert %}} ### Remove Empty Paragraphs A paragraph that only includes merge fields will be empty when the Mail Merge process removes all its merge fields as unmerged. Those empty paragraphs can add unwanted space and change how the generated report will look. You may face two situations with paragraphs during a Mail Merge operation: 1. The Mail Merge field will be merged with empty data. 2. The merge field is unused and will be removed. In both situations the **RemoveEmptyParagraphs** option will automatically remove empty paragraphs from the document. Also, it will remove the `TableStart` and TableEnd merge fields if the rest of the paragraph is empty. The following code example shows how to remove the empty paragraphs: {{< gist "aspose-words-gists" "d55d8631947d283b1f0da99afa06c492" "Examples-DocsExamples-source-Mail Merge and Reporting-Working with CleanupOptions-RemoveEmptyParagraphs.h" >}} {{% alert color="primary" %}} You can download the sample file of this example from [Aspose.Words GitHub](https://github.com/aspose-words/Aspose.Words-for-C/tree/master/Examples). {{% /alert %}} ### Remove Unused Fields Aspose.Words allows you to remove any unused Mail Merge fields by assigning the **RemoveUnusedFields** flag to **CleanupOptions**. This option will remove merge fields that don't have the corresponding data in the data source. The following code example shows how to remove any unused merge fields from a document automatically during a Mail Merge operation: {{< gist "aspose-words-gists" "d55d8631947d283b1f0da99afa06c492" "cpp-Mail-Merge-MailMergeCleanUp-RemoveUnusedFields.cpp" >}} ### Removing Containing Fields A merge field can be contained within another field such as an **IF** field or a formula field. Remove this outer field when the merge field is merged or removed from the document. The following code example shows how to remove fields that contain merge fields from a document: {{< gist "aspose-words-gists" "d55d8631947d283b1f0da99afa06c492" "cpp-Mail-Merge-MailMergeCleanUp-RemoveContainingFields.cpp" >}} **Note**: This option will only remove a containing field if the field was actually merged with data or if the merge field was removed by using the **RemoveUnusedFields** option. This option matches the behavior of Microsoft Word during Mail Merge which always automatically removes outer fields from a merged field and keeps only the plain text result. ### Remove Empty Table Rows Aspose.Words allows you to remove empty table rows by assigning the **RemoveEmptyTableRows** flag to **CleanupOptions**. This option will remove table rows that contain empty merge fields. The following code example shows how to remove empty table rows that contain Mail Merge regions from a document: {{< gist "aspose-words-gists" "d55d8631947d283b1f0da99afa06c492" "cpp-Mail-Merge-MailMergeCleanUp-RemoveEmptyTableRows.cpp" >}} ``` ------ ## FAQ 1. **Q:** How can I delete all merge fields from a template before performing a mail merge? **A:** Use the `DeleteFields` method of the `MailMerge` object. It removes every merge field without executing a mail merge, leaving the rest of the document untouched. ```cpp System::SharedPtr doc = MakeObject(u"Template.docx"); doc->get_MailMerge()->DeleteFields(); doc->Save(u"CleanTemplate.docx"); ``` 2. **Q:** Which `CleanupOptions` remove empty paragraphs that become blank after a mail merge? **A:** Set the `RemoveEmptyParagraphs` flag in the `CleanupOptions` enumeration. It deletes paragraphs that contain only unmerged fields or become empty after field removal. ```cpp System::SharedPtr doc = MakeObject(u"Template.docx"); doc->get_MailMerge()->set_CleanupOptions( Aspose::Words::MailMerging::MailMergeCleanupOptions::RemoveEmptyParagraphs); doc->get_MailMerge()->Execute(u"DataSource"); ``` 3. **Q:** How do I automatically remove merge fields that have no matching column in the data source? **A:** Enable the `RemoveUnusedFields` option. During execution, any field without a corresponding column (or with a null value) is removed from the document. ```cpp System::SharedPtr doc = MakeObject(u"Template.docx"); doc->get_MailMerge()->set_CleanupOptions( Aspose::Words::MailMerging::MailMergeCleanupOptions::RemoveUnusedFields); doc->get_MailMerge()->Execute(u"DataSource"); ``` 4. **Q:** What is the best way to delete outer fields (e.g., IF, formula) that contain a merge field after the merge? **A:** Use the `RemoveContainingFields` flag. It removes the outer field only when the inner merge field has been merged or removed, mimicking Word’s native behavior. ```cpp System::SharedPtr doc = MakeObject(u"Template.docx"); doc->get_MailMerge()->set_CleanupOptions( Aspose::Words::MailMerging::MailMergeCleanupOptions::RemoveContainingFields); doc->get_MailMerge()->Execute(u"DataSource"); ``` 5. **Q:** How can I get rid of empty table rows that only contain merge fields? **A:** Combine the `RemoveEmptyTableRows` flag with your other cleanup options. Rows that become empty after field removal are automatically deleted. ```cpp System::SharedPtr doc = MakeObject(u"Template.docx"); doc->get_MailMerge()->set_CleanupOptions( Aspose::Words::MailMerging::MailMergeCleanupOptions::RemoveEmptyTableRows | Aspose::Words::MailMerging::MailMergeCleanupOptions::RemoveEmptyParagraphs); doc->get_MailMerge()->Execute(u"DataSource"); ```