How to Use EAN 13 Barcode Generator in Excel (2 Easy Ways)

Although QR codes are getting more popular now, barcodes are still popular and widely used for product identification purposes. International Article Number or European Article Number is a very common numbering system among them. In this article, we will discuss on EAN 13 barcode generator in Excel.

What Is EAN 13 Barcode?

EAN stands for European Article Number. It also refers to as the International Article Number. EAN 13 is a numbering system or barcode symbology used in global trade that helps identify a specific product type, packaging, and manufacturer. It consists of 4 parts- GS1 prefix, Manufacturer code, Product code, and Check digit. A sample EAN 13 barcode looks something like this.

The first three digits in the EAN 13 barcode are the GS1 prefix. It usually refers to the GS1 member organization the manufacturer belongs to. If this number starts with a zero, the barcode belongs to the UPC 12-digit category.

Next, the Manufacturer code takes place in the EAN 13 barcode. This can be of variable length. Although recently a 5-digit code has been the trend. All the products have the same Manufacturer code for the same manufacturing company.

Like the previous one, the Product code can also be of variable lengths. But, the total digit of the Manufacturer code and the Product code should be 9 or 10 digits depending on the country code.

The Check digit is the final digit in the code. This is there to ensure the scanner is scanning the barcode correctly.

Requirements for Generating EAN 13 Barcode in Excel

Older versions of Excel don’t have the feature to generate an EAN 13 barcode within the application. There can be other factors involved while generating such codes in Excel. Some of the requirements for generating an EAN 13 barcode or using a generator in Excel are:

Excel version to be at least 2007.
EAN 13 barcode font.
Label printer

How to Use EAN 13 Barcode Generator in Excel: 2 Easy Ways

To generate an EAN 13 Barcode in Excel, we can use two major ways. One involves formatting and having an output of the barcode as a value and the other includes using an add-in where output barcodes are objects. You can choose the one depending on your output preference. We will include them in their own subsection with details.

For both of the methods, we will use the following dataset.

1. Utilizing Barcode Font from Open Source

In this method, we will format the barcode numbers first. Then change the font style to a barcode. To use this method, you need the barcode font. Keep in mind that, you can’t find this font style as a built-in one in Excel. So you need to download and install it from an external source.

We are using the 3 of 9 Barcode Font for this demonstration. You can find it easily from open sources. Once you have downloaded the file, you can follow these steps and make your own EAN 13 generator in Excel.

Steps to Download Font Style:

From the link, you can download a compressed file. First, extract the .zip extension.
Then open the file with the .TTF extension.

Once the file opens, click on Install from the top left of the box.

After that, let it install. That’s all the steps required to install the font style in Excel.

Steps to Generate Barcode:

Once you have installed the font style, open the Excel file. If it was already opened before, then close and restart it.
Now, select the cell where you want your barcode to be in.
Then write down the following formula.

="("&B5&")"

After that, press Enter.

Now select the cell again and click and drag the fill handle icon to the end of the column to replicate the formula for the rest of the cells.

While all of the cells are selected, change the font style from the Font group of the Home tab to 3 of 9 Barcode.

As a result, all of the cells will change to barcode form now.

This is how we can easily generate EAN 13 barcode and make our own generator in Excel.

2. Using Excel Add-in

Another method to generate an EAN 13 barcode is to use a third-party add-in developed by different organizations like OnBarcode. You can go to their website and download the version for your operating system. Once you have downloaded that, you will find a new tab called the Add-ins in your Excel ribbon.

Once you have that, you are good to go to generate an EAN 13 barcode in Excel. This also works as an EAN 13 barcode generator for Excel.

Follow these steps for a detailed guide to the usage.

Steps:

First, go to the Add-ins tab on your ribbon.
Then select Create Barcode from the OnBarCode group section.

Barcode Settings will pop up on the right of the Excel spreadsheet after that.

Then simply click on the cell containing the barcode number. For example, we are selecting cell B5
Next, click on Generate in the Barcode Settings.

As a result, a barcode object will pop up on the Excel spreadsheet. Finally, more and resize it to your liking.

Eventually, you can repeat this process as many times as you want and for as many codes as you need.

This is another way to use a generator and generate an EAN 13 barcode in Excel.

Download Practice Workbook

You can download the workbook used for the demonstration from the link below.

EAN 13 Barcode Generator.xlsx

Conclusion

So these were the methods you can use to generate an EAN 13 barcode generator and create such code in Excel. I hope you can generate your own codes now with ease using your preferred method and you can run both of them without any issues. Hopefully, you have found this guide helpful and informative. If you have any questions or suggestions, let us know in the comments below.

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