MrExcel.com - Your One Stop for Excel Tips & Solutions

Excel Data to Mailing Labels in Word

June 12, 2023 - by

Excel Data to Mailing Labels in Word

Problem: I have address information in Excel and I have to make mailing labels.

Strategy: You can use the Mail Merge in Microsoft Word to make the labels. Here are the steps:

  • 1. Make sure your data in Excel is set up with each address going across a row.

  • 2. Have headings in row 1.

  • 3. Close the file in Excel.

Data in Excel for the mail merge. Headings in Row 1 say Name, Address1, Address2, Address3.
Figure 1142. Set up your data properly in Excel.

  • 4. Open a blank document in Microsoft Word.

  • 5. In Word, go to Mailings, Start Mail Merge, Labels.

  • 6. Choose the right size labels in the Label Options dialog. Click OK. You get a document full of blank labels.

  • 7. Go to Mailings, Select Recipients, Use an Existing List....

In Word, open the Select Recipients drop-down and choose Use An Existing List.
Figure 1143. Choose an existing list.

  • 8. Browse to and select your Excel file.

  • 9. In the Select Table dialog, choose Sheet1$. Make sure First Row of Data Contains Column Headers is selected. Click OK. You now a confusing <<Next Record>> in all but the first label.

  • 10. Notice that the insertion point is in the first label. Go to Insert Merge Field and choose the first line of your address field.

  • 11. This is tough to do, but carefully press Shift+Enter to go to the next line without inserting a bunch of space.

  • 12. Repeat steps 10, 11, 10, 11, 10 until you have all four lines of the address in the label.

Type one label, and use Insert Merge Field, Name to insert <<Name>> in the label. Repeat for each field.
Figure 1144. Build the first label.

  • 13. If you want any special font, add that formatting to the first label.

  • 14. Press the Update Labels button to repeat your fields in all of the labels of the sheet.

  • 15. Choose Finish & Merge, Edit Individual Documents. You will have labels from the Excel data.

Gotcha: Step 14 seems to be the non-obvious step that trips most people up.

This article is an excerpt from Power Excel With MrExcel

Title photo by Jennie Razumnaya on Unsplash