In this tutorial, we will explain how to merge an excel file into mailing labels. Labeling is necessary for a variety of reasons, including marketing a product, identifying the address of a person who will deliver the delivery, and many others. Microsoft Excel has a tool that allows us to generate labels and preview them before printing them. Using a combination of Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word, we can merge excel files to mailing labels easily. Microsoft Word’s mail merging capability works in pairs with Microsoft Excel to print labels in Excel.
How to Merge Excel File to Mailing Labels: with Easy Steps
The entire process to merge an excel file to mailing labels with the help of Microsoft Word is simple but a little bit lengthy. So, to make you understand this method better, we’ll demonstrate the process to you in 8 steps.
Step-1: Make Excel File for Mail Merge
- First and foremost, create an excel sheet like the following image. We’ve taken the First Name, Last Name, Address, and Country of five presidents to create the following dataset.
- So, when we will merge excel files to mailing labels, the column headers of our Excel sheet will convert into mail merge fields in a Word document
- Next, before approaching the next step we need to ensure some important things. Notice the terms in the ‘Required for Address Block’ section such as First Name, Middle Name, Last Name, etc.
- Furthermore, select the same names for your column headings as those in the ‘Required for Address Block‘ section.
Step-2: Place Mail Merge Document in Microsoft Word
In the second step, we will merge an Excel file to mailing labels by placing mail merge documents in Microsoft Word. Let’s see how can we do this:
- First, create a new document in Microsoft Word or open an existing one.
- Next, go to the Mailings tab.
- Then, from the ribbon select ‘Start Mail Merge’.
- In addition, from the drop-down menu select the option ‘Step-by-Step Mail Merge Wizard’.
- The above action will open a mail merge pane.
- After that, from the ‘Select Document Type’ section check the option Labels.
- Moreover, click on the option ‘Next: Starting document’ at the bottom.
- The above command will take us to a new Mail Merge pane.
- Furthermore, from the new pane check the option ‘Use the current document’. Then, click on the option ‘Next: Select recipients’ at the bottom.
Step–3: Link Word File and Excel Worksheet to Merge Mailing Labels
To merge excel files to mailing labels we need to link our work file with an excel worksheet. In this step, we will connect our Word file with an Excel worksheet. Let’s see how we can do this:
- To begin with, check the option ‘Use an existing list’ from the ‘Select recipients’ section.
- In addition, click on the Browse option.
- Then, a pop-up window like the below image will appear. From that window, we will browse the excel worksheet that we will use to merge mailing labels.
- After browsing we can see a new pop-up window like the image below. Click on OK on that window.
- In the end, click on OK after we select our excel worksheet named ‘Merge Mailing Labels$’ from the pop-up window.
Step-4: Select Recipients to Merge Excel File to Mailing Labels
After Step-3 by default, the ‘Mail Merge Recipients‘ window will display all of the recipients from your Excel mailing list.
The action that we can perform in this step are:
- Firstly, clear the check box next to a field to exclude that particular field.
- Secondly, click on the column heading to sort by a certain column.
- Thirdly, we can also filter the recipient list by clicking the arrow next to the column heading.
- Fourthly, pick the option ‘Advanced…’ from the drop-down list by clicking the arrow next to the column name to apply advanced sorting or filtering.
- Lastly, after completing your necessary operation, click OK to move on to the next step.
Step-5: Organize Arrangements for Address Labels
In this step, we will fix what information we want to insert into our mailing labels. In order to do this, we will add a new field in our word file called mail merge fields.
To organize the arrangement of the address label we will follow the below steps:
- In the beginning, go to the Word document.
- Next, click on a place where you want to add a field.
- Then, from the ‘Mail Merge’ pane click on the option ‘Address block’.
- The above command will open a new window named ‘Insert Address Block’.
- Furthermore, select the required options from the box. We can also check the result in the preview section and click on OK.
Step-6: Display the Mailing Labels
Now we are on the verge of seeing our final result. In this step, we will see how our labels will look when we will print those. To do this look at the following steps.
- First, go to the ‘Mail Merge’ pane.
- Next, click on the left or right of the arrow sign. When we choose ‘Recipient: 1‘, we’ll see a label identical to the one shown below.
- Moreover, if we select ‘Recipient:2’, we’ll see a label identical to the one shown below.
- Once you’re pleased with the way your address labels look, click on ‘Next: Complete the merge’.
Step-7: Merge Excel File to Mailing Label and Print
In this step, we will see how we can print mailing labels after merging excel files. The process of printing just takes two simple steps.
- Firstly, click on the print option from the ‘Mail Merge’ pane.
- Secondly, specify whether you want to print all of your mailing labels, the current entry, or just a few.
Step-8: Save Merged Mailing Labels for Future Use
Now, from our merged excel file we will save the mailing labels. If we save labels, we will be able to print them in the future.
- To save the labels we just need to press Ctrl + S from the keyboard.
- The above command will save the labels.
- So, any modifications you make to the Excel mailing list will immediately update the labels in Word.
- Next, if you open the word document again you will see a pop-up window like the image below.
- Finally, to mail merge labels from Excel to Word, click on Yes. Click on No to break the connection between the Excel worksheet and the Word document.
Create a Custom Layout to Merge Excel Files to Mailing Labels
Sometimes, the available options in the Address Block may not be sufficient for us. So, in that case, we need to create a custom layout to merge excel files to mailing labels. Follow the simple steps to do this.
- To begin with, go to the Mailings tab.
- In addition, select the option ‘Insert Merge Field’ from the ribbon.
- A new pop-up window named ‘Insert Merge Field’ will appear.
- Then, select a new field and click on insert.
Fill Missing Elements from a Merged Excel File to Mailing Labels
Sometimes while merging excel files to mailing labels output may be different from our desired one. If the labels in the preview section do not match our expected result it means something is missing. In case it happens we can easily fill the missing fields. Let’s see the steps to do this.
- First, we will check if our Excel source file includes all of the necessary data.
- If any field is missing click on the ‘Match Fields’ button.
- In the end, match the fields manually with the fields of the ‘Required for Address Block’ section.
Things to Remember
- After creating the labels don’t forget to save them for future use.
- Blank cells in rows or columns return inappropriate results. So, try to avoid them.
- Use one column at a time for each label. Otherwise, this method will not work.
Download Practice Workbook
You can download the practice workbook from here.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this tutorial was a complete guide on how to merge excel files to mailing labels. To put your skills to the test, use the practice worksheet that comes with this article. Please leave a comment in the box below if you have any questions. We’ll try to reply to you as soon as possible. In the future, keep an eye on our website for more fascinating Microsoft Excel solutions.
