Did you know that it’s possible to use Google Sheets data in order to print out mailing labels and whatnot? It’s particularly handy if you’re a startup company selling goods over mail and you wish to automate having to put in different names and addresses via spreadsheet.
This way, you won’t have to type them up and print them out one-by-one through Microsoft Word and Google Docs! Here’s how.
Extensions Allow Your Google Sheet to Extend Its Usefulness
Imagine having a mailing list (the old-timey mailing list that’s literally a list of addresses instead of electronic mailing lists for email addresses) where you have to type up and print out names and mailing addresses on Word or Google Docs for printing and gluing onto boxes later?
You’ll have to save all that onto your hard disk too, which makes having to look for specific names and addresses every time. Doesn’t that sound like a drag?
With Google Sheets storing all that data on a table and the Labelmaker extension allowing you to make mailing labels for them, you won’t have to go through such rigmarole any longer! It’s much cleaner, more optimized, and more automated.
You need the Labelmaker extension because making labels from Google Sheets and opening it on Google Docs isn’t a native function of the apps.
How to Print Labels from Google Sheets
With the addition of Labelmaker to Google Sheets, you can create a mailing list with hundreds of contacts in seconds! You’ll have the info available on a scalable spreadsheet for use in future mailings care of the sheet and a label maker extension!
Step 1: Prepare a spreadsheet featuring different names and addresses for printing as mailing labels later.
Step 2: Install Labelmaker. You’ll be accessing it with Google Sheets later on. Downloading it is absolutely free. You need to have Google Sheets and an address book or mailing list for it to work, though.
You should see this screen after successful installation. It points you to where the “Adds-On” or “Extensions” menu is.
If you can’t see this menu on your Google Sheets, then reload the sheet or copy the URL, close the Chrome window, and open a new Chrome window then paste the URL of your sheet for a full reload.
Step 3: Go to the “Extensions” menu. You should see the Labelmaker or “Create & Print Labels – Label maker for Avery & Co” extension on there like so. Select that and look at your options.
Step 4: Once you choose “Create labels“, the Labelmaker sidebar should appear. It will ask you to select a label template and an option to design or customize labels right below.
You have quite a number of templates to choose from. As of this writing, you can avail of over 5,000 labels from Labelmaker. They come in categories that include, “Herma”, “Avery US Letter”, “Avery Zweckform”, “OnlineLabels.com”, “Avery A4”, and “Sheetlabels.com”, just to name a few.
Step 5: For now, let’s pick “Avery US Letter – 5160 Easy Peel” (one of the defaults). From there, design your label by clicking the “Select a merge field” and bringing up the headers on your spreadsheet.
The format I used is <<Name>> in bold letters and the rest in unformatted text.
You can combine <<Address>> with <<City>> or go <<Address>>, <<City>>, and <<State>> with the <<Zip code>> on the bottom. I decided with the <<State>> and <<Zip code>> together instead.
Once you’re done customizing your label, click on the “Create labels” button.
Step 6: After creating the label, click on the “Open document” button to open your printable labels on Google Docs.
By the day, what happens after you press that button is that every row in your spreadsheet is turned into a new label with the specific “merge” fields combining into your designed label template.
In just a few seconds, you can turn ten or hundreds of contacts on your address book into a mailing list of printable labels you can open on Google Docs.
Step 7: Once your document is open on Google Docs, you can print out the new labels on sticker paper or ordinary paper for cutting and gluing onto your packages later on.
You can print the labels out by going to the “File” menu and selecting “Print“. You can also click the “Print” icon on the horizontal toolbar. Finally, just press the “Ctrl + P” shortcut.
What Else Do You Need to Know?
To recap, do this to make labels with Google Sheets. Click on the “Extensions” menu of Google Sheets (formerly known as “Add-ons”). Afterwards, select “Create & Print Labels”. The add-on should already be installed first in order to access this option.
You might need to reload your spreadsheet by closing and opening it again to load up Labelmaker. On a final note, it’s amazing what a simple addition of an add-on or extension does for Google Sheets!
References:
- The Gooru, “Create Printable Shipping Labels with Google Sheets” , YouTube, September 17, 2015
- Create & Print Labels – Labelmaker, “How to print mailing labels from Google Sheets?“, YouTube, November 30, 2020
- “How to print labels for a mailing list in Google Sheets?“, LabelsMerge.com, Retrieved June 30, 2022
- Nicole Levine, “How to Print Labels on Google Sheets“, WikiHow, April 9, 2021
Google Sheet: Make a copy
Google Doc: Make a copy