How to Print Labels in Word on a Home Printer, Step by Step

Return-address stickers, jar labels, school book labels, a stack of envelopes for holiday cards: knowing how to print labels in Word turns a fiddly job into a few clicks. Word has a built-in Labels tool that already knows the layout of many label sheets sold in shops, and a mail merge feature that fills a sheet from an address list. The only real skill is making sure the printout lines up with the labels, and a plain-paper test takes care of that.

Before you start: the label sheet

Look at the label pack before opening Word. You need two pieces of information:

• The vendor and product number. Label sheets are sold with a product or template number printed on the pack. Word uses that number to know how many labels are on the sheet, their size and their spacing.
• The printer type. Labels are made for inkjet, laser, or both. Inkjet labels have a surface that absorbs ink; laser labels and their adhesive are made to cope with the heat of a laser printer’s fuser. Use the type your printer needs.

If you are not sure what kind of printer you have, our guide to laser vs inkjet printers for home explains the difference.

How to print a full sheet of the same label

This is the method for return-address labels or any label you want repeated across the sheet. Microsoft’s steps for Word on Windows:

1. Go to Mailings, Labels.
2. Select Options, choose the label vendor and product number from your pack, and select OK.
3. Type the text in the Address box. Insert Address pulls in an address from your contacts.
4. To change the font, select the text, right-click and choose Font or Paragraph.
5. Choose Full page of the same label.
6. Select Print, or New Document to see and edit the sheet before printing.

On a Mac the steps are almost the same: Mailings, Labels, Options, then choose the Printer type, Label products and Product number, type the text in Delivery Address, choose Full page of the same label and print.

New Document is worth using: it opens the whole sheet as a table, so you can add a small picture, change one label or save the sheet to reuse next year.

How to print one label on a partly used sheet

Label sheets are expensive to waste. Word can print a single label in any position:

1. Go to Mailings, Labels and set up the text and product as above.
2. Under Print, choose Single label.
3. Set the Row and Column of the first unused label on your sheet.
4. Load the partly used sheet and print.

Feeding a sheet with missing labels carries some risk: exposed backing and lifted edges can catch inside the printer. Avery’s printing advice for jams is to use sheets that are flat, undamaged and loaded in the correct direction, so check that no label is lifting at the edges, and use a rear or manual feed slot for thick media if your printer has one. If a sheet is curled or damaged, do not feed it. Our guide to how to print envelopes at home has more on feeding thicker media.

How to print address labels from a list (mail merge)

For holiday cards, wedding invitations or club mailings, keep the addresses in an Excel sheet and let Word fill the labels. Microsoft’s mail merge steps:

1. Prepare the list. One row per person, with a heading in the first row such as First name, Last name, Street, City, Postcode. Microsoft stresses that the data should be free of mistakes and consistently formatted.
2. In Word, choose Mailings, Start Mail Merge, then Labels (or open the Step-by-Step Mail Merge Wizard and choose Labels).
3. Choose the label vendor and product number.
4. Choose Select Recipients, Use an Existing List and open your Excel file.
5. Select Address Block to insert the address fields in the first label, and check the preview.
6. Select Update Labels so every label on the page gets the same layout.
7. Select Preview Results, then Finish & Merge, and print or edit the merged document.

Tip for postcodes: codes that start with zero can lose that zero in Excel. Format the postcode column as text before typing or importing the addresses.

Test on plain paper first

Microsoft recommends printing to plain paper before using label sheets, and it is the single most useful step:

1. Print the first page on ordinary paper.
2. Hold it against a label sheet up to the light.
3. Check that each address sits inside its label with some space around it.

If everything is shifted the same way, check the paper size and that no scaling is on. If the shift grows down the page, the product number is probably wrong.

Why labels do not line up

Symptom	Likely cause	What to do
Everything slightly smaller and drifting	Fit to page or scaling is on	Print at actual size, 100%; see fit to page vs actual size
Whole sheet shifted down or across	Wrong paper size (A4 vs Letter)	Match the paper size in Word and the printer
Error grows towards the bottom	Wrong product number or custom size	Re-check Options or measure for a New Label
Text printed on the backing paper	Sheet loaded upside down	Check which side your printer prints on
Smudged print	Wrong label type or paper setting	Use labels for your printer type; choose a labels or thick paper setting

If your product is not listed, select New Label in Options and enter the measurements of the sheet: margins, label height and width, and the gaps between labels.

Printer settings for labels

• Paper type. If the driver offers a Labels, Thick Paper or similar setting, use it; it adjusts the feed and, on lasers, the fuser.
• Feed path. A straight-through rear or manual slot is kinder to labels than a tight curved path.
• One sheet at a time. Feed label sheets singly unless the printer’s manual says otherwise.
• Leave them to dry. Inkjet labels can smudge if handled straight away, especially in dark colours.

Word for the web and other apps

Microsoft says Word for the web cannot create labels with the Labels tool. Instead, choose a label template when you create a new document (or More templates), fill in one label, and copy it to the rest. Many label makers also publish free templates and online design tools for their own sheets, which is handy if you do not use Word.

For one-off address printing, printing straight onto envelopes can be quicker than labels; for a large mailing or many parcels, labels are faster to apply. If you print so many shipping labels that sheets are getting expensive, a dedicated label printer may be worth considering, but for occasional home use a sheet of labels and a normal printer does the job.