When you execute the merge to a new document, there will be no fields in
that document so there will be no highlighting. If you want to turn it off
in the main document, select Options from the Tools menu and then go to the
View tab and change the setting for the Field shading.

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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
>I have a directory mail merge Word 2003 document that has decided to
> highlight the mergefields at all times. How can I change this?
> Thanks