How to Use Mail Merge to Print Address Labels From Excel in Word

Microsoft Word’s Mail Merge feature is not limited to personalised letters and emails. One of its most practical uses is printing sheets of address labels directly from a contact list stored in an Excel spreadsheet. Instead of manually typing each label, you can set up a template once, connect it to your data source, and print hundreds of perfectly formatted labels in minutes. This guide covers the complete workflow from start to finish.

What You Need Before Starting

Before beginning the Mail Merge process, prepare the following:

• An Excel spreadsheet containing your address data. Each column should have a clear header (e.g., First Name, Last Name, Address Line 1, Address Line 2, City, County, Postcode). Each row represents one label.
• Label stock product numbers. Check the packaging of your label sheets for the manufacturer name and product number (e.g., Avery L7163, Avery 5160). Word has built-in templates for hundreds of label products.
• Microsoft Word installed on your computer.

Setting Up the Label Template

1. Open Microsoft Word.
2. Go to the Mailings tab.
3. Click Start Mail Merge and select Labels.
4. In the Label Options dialog:
   • Select your printer type (Page printers for most laser and inkjet printers).
   • Choose the label vendor from the dropdown (e.g., Avery, Herma, Hisago).
   • Select the specific product number that matches your label sheets.
5. Click OK.

Word creates a table layout that exactly matches the dimensions of your label sheets, with each cell representing one label. If your label product is not listed, click New Label to enter custom dimensions (label height, width, margins, number across, number down).

Connecting to Your Excel Data Source

1. In the Mailings tab, click Select Recipients.
2. Choose Use an Existing List.
3. Navigate to your Excel file and select it.
4. If prompted, select the worksheet (sheet tab) containing your address data.
5. Ensure First row of data contains column headers is ticked.
6. Click OK.

Word is now connected to your spreadsheet. The data is not visible on the labels yet — you need to insert merge fields to tell Word where to place each piece of information.

Inserting Merge Fields into the Label

1. Click inside the first label cell (top-left label on the page).
2. In the Mailings tab, click Insert Merge Field.
3. Select the fields in the order you want them to appear on the label. A typical layout is:

   «First_Name» «Last_Name»
   «Address_Line_1»
   «Address_Line_2»
   «City», «County»
   «Postcode»

4. Add line breaks between fields by pressing Enter after each line.
5. Add any static text (commas, spaces) between fields as needed.

Alternatively, click Address Block instead of inserting individual fields. This uses Word’s built-in address formatting to automatically arrange name, street, city, and postcode fields in the standard postal format.

Copying the Layout to All Labels

After formatting the first label, you need to copy that layout to every other label on the page:

1. In the Mailings tab, click Update Labels.

Word copies the merge field layout from the first label to all other labels on the sheet. Each label automatically references the next row in your data source, so label 1 uses row 1, label 2 uses row 2, and so on.

Previewing the Labels

Before printing, verify that the data is merging correctly:

1. In the Mailings tab, click Preview Results.
2. The merge fields are replaced with actual data from your spreadsheet.
3. Check for:
   • Correct field order.
   • Proper spacing and line breaks.
   • Missing or misaligned data.
   • Fields that are too long for the label size.
4. Use the navigation arrows in the Mailings tab to scroll through different pages of labels.

Formatting the Label Text

You can format the merge fields like any normal text in Word:

• Change the font and font size to fit your labels. For standard address labels, 10pt or 11pt usually works well.
• Adjust paragraph spacing to reduce gaps between lines. Set “Before” and “After” spacing to 0pt for compact labels.
• Apply bold to the name fields if you want the recipient’s name to stand out.
• Centre the text vertically within the label cell using table cell alignment options.

Select all labels (Ctrl + A) before applying formatting changes to ensure consistency across the entire sheet.

Filtering Recipients

If you only want to print labels for specific contacts from your spreadsheet:

1. In the Mailings tab, click Edit Recipient List.
2. Untick specific recipients you want to exclude.
3. Alternatively, use the Filter option to show only records matching specific criteria (e.g., only contacts in a particular city or with a specific tag).

This is useful when you have a master contact list but only need labels for a subset of recipients.

Printing the Labels

1. In the Mailings tab, click Finish & Merge.
2. Select Print Documents to send directly to the printer, or select Edit Individual Documents to create a new Word document with all the labels merged (recommended for a final review before printing).
3. Load your label sheets into the printer and print.

If you chose “Edit Individual Documents”, Word creates a new document where every label is filled with real data. You can scroll through this document to spot any issues before committing to a print run.

Handling Blank Address Lines

A common problem with address labels is blank lines appearing when a field is empty (for example, not every contact has an Address Line 2). To prevent blank lines:

1. After inserting merge fields, go to the Mailings tab.
2. Click Match Fields and use the Address Block feature, which automatically skips blank fields.

If using individual merge fields, you can add Word merge rules. Click Rules in the Mailings tab and insert an If…Then…Else rule that only prints a line break if the field is not empty.

Saving Your Label Template for Future Use

After setting up the label layout, save the Word document as a template (.dotx) so you can reuse it with updated data in the future. Simply open the template, reconnect to your updated spreadsheet, and print. This eliminates the need to set up the label layout from scratch every time.