Creating and printing labels in Microsoft Word is a useful skill for various tasks, from managing bulk mailings and organizing your pantry to adding a personal touch to invitations or gifts. Whether you’re sending out holiday cards or labeling products for your small business, Word offers a straightforward way to design and print professional-looking labels right from your desktop.
This guide will walk you through each step of the process, making it easy to print labels from Word, even if you’re not a tech expert. We’ll cover everything from opening Word to printing your finalized labels, ensuring you get perfect results every time. Let’s get started!
1. Launch Microsoft Word
First things first, you need to open Microsoft Word on your computer. Simply locate the Word icon, typically found in your applications menu or on your desktop, and click to launch the program. Once Word is open, you’ll be ready to begin creating your labels.
Opening Microsoft Word: Locate and click the Word application icon on your computer to begin the label printing process.
2. Navigate to the “Mailings” Tab and Select “Labels”
Once you have a blank document open in Word, look at the menu bar at the top of the window. Find and click on the “Mailings” tab. This section of Word is designed for tasks like creating envelopes, mail merges, and, importantly for our task, labels. Within the “Mailings” tab, you will see a section labeled “Create”. Click on the “Labels” button. This action will open a new window where you can specify your label preferences and start designing.
Accessing the Labels feature in Microsoft Word: Go to the ‘Mailings’ tab in the top menu and click on the ‘Labels’ option to open the label setup window.
3. Choose Your Label Vendor
In the “Labels and Envelopes” window that appears, you’ll see a few tabs; make sure you are on the “Labels” tab. Now, click on the “Options…” button. This will open the “Label Options” window. Here, you need to select your label vendor. Click the dropdown menu under “Label vendors:” and choose the brand of label sheets you are using. “Avery US Letter” is a very common choice in the United States and for letter-sized paper. If you are using a different brand, scroll through the list to find it. Selecting the correct vendor is crucial as it ensures that Word knows the dimensions and layout of your label sheets.
Selecting your label vendor in Word: In the Label Options, choose your label brand from the ‘Label vendors’ dropdown menu, such as Avery US Letter, to match your label paper.
4. Pick a Label Template (or Customize)
After choosing your vendor, you need to select a specific label template, also known as the “Product number”. This number usually corresponds to the product number printed on your label packaging. In the “Product number:” list, scroll to find the template number that matches your label sheets. For a standard address label, “5160 Address Labels” is a widely used option. Select your template and click “OK”.
If you can’t find the exact product number you need, don’t worry! Word allows you to create a custom label layout. In the “Label Options” window, click on “New Label…”. This will open a “Label Details” window where you can manually enter the dimensions for your labels, including height, width, margins, and the number of labels across and down the page. Once you’ve entered all the specifications, click “OK” to save your custom template. Then, back in the “Label Options” window, click “OK” again to return to the “Labels and Envelopes” window.
Choosing a label template in Word: Select the appropriate ‘Product number’ that matches your label sheet, like 5160 Address Labels, from the list in Label Options.
Creating a custom label template in Word: If your specific label product number isn’t listed, use the ‘New Label’ option to manually define label dimensions and layout.
5. Enter Your Label Text
Now you’re ready to add the content to your labels. In the “Labels and Envelopes” window, in the “Address” box, type the text you want to appear on your labels. This could be an address, names, a company logo, QR codes, or any other information relevant to your purpose. If you are creating a sheet of identical labels, simply type the information once. For mail merge with different addresses, you would use the Mail Merge feature, which is a more advanced topic but still accessible via the “Mailings” tab. For this guide, we’re focusing on printing a sheet of identical labels or manually entering different text for each label later.
Adding text to your labels in Word: Type the desired information, such as addresses or product details, into the ‘Address’ box in the Labels and Envelopes window.
6. Preview Your Labels
Before printing, it’s always a good idea to preview how your labels will look. In the “Labels and Envelopes” window, click on the “New Document” button at the bottom. Word will then create a new document displaying your labels laid out on a page, exactly as they will print onto your label sheets. This preview step allows you to check for any errors in text, alignment, or layout before you waste any labels.
Previewing labels in Word before printing: Click ‘New Document’ to generate a preview page showing how your labels will be arranged and appear when printed.
7. Customize the Text Style
If you want to change the font, size, color, or any other aspect of your text’s appearance, you can easily do so in the preview document that Word created. Simply select the text you wish to modify, either on the entire page or specific labels. Then, use the formatting options in the “Home” tab of Word, just as you would when editing any regular Word document. You can adjust the font, font size, font color, bolding, italics, and more to achieve the desired look for your labels.
8. Print Your Labels
Once you’re satisfied with the appearance of your labels, it’s time to print. Go to “File” in the top left corner of Word, and then click “Print”. In the print settings, ensure that your printer is selected and that the paper size is correctly set to “US Letter” or the appropriate size for your label sheets. For optimal printing on labels, you might also want to check your printer settings for media type and select “Labels” if available. It’s often recommended to set margins to “narrow” or “none” in the layout settings for best alignment on labels.
Before you click “Print”, it’s a good practice to do a test print on a plain sheet of paper first. Hold the test print against your label sheet to ensure everything lines up correctly. This can save you from wasting expensive label sheets. If everything looks good, load your label sheets into your printer and click “Print”.
Beyond Word: An Easier Label Printing Alternative
While Microsoft Word is a powerful tool for creating labels, there are even simpler alternatives available, especially if you frequently work with labels or prefer a more streamlined process.
For example, Labelmaker is an excellent tool designed for creating labels using Google Docs and Google Sheets. It’s known for its user-friendliness and simplicity, making label creation accessible even to those who are less tech-savvy. Labelmaker includes all the essential functionalities you find in Word for label creation, but with a focus on ease of use and integration with Google Workspace. To explore this alternative, you can install Labelmaker from the Google Workspace Marketplace and follow a straightforward guide on how to make labels with Google Docs. This can be a particularly appealing option if you are already integrated into the Google ecosystem or are looking for a quicker, more intuitive label printing solution.
