How to create mailing labels in Word with a list of addresses in Excel
Saturday, January 19, 2008

This is really not something I expected to help anyone with on this blog; however, someone at our church asked me how to create labels with an existing address book so I created this document in Word. It is a little advanced, but if you really want to learn about a few different aspects of MS Office then this is a great way to try something a little more challenging. I have Office 2002, so if yours' is an earlier version some of this may be a little different.

Also, it seems that #26 below is having problems staying in line. I'm sure if you get that far, you'll be able to figure it out despite the problem with justification.

Good luck!


Inputting your addresses in Excel

  1. Open an excel spreadsheet.

  2. Label the first row with the following:

    1. Last Name

    2. First Name

    3. Address 1

    4. City

    5. State

    6. Postal Code

  3. Save your file.

  4. Enter your data.

  5. Save again.

  6. Close the document.


Creating a document for your labels in Word

  1. Open a Word document.

  2. Choose Tools>Letters and Mailings>Envelopes and Labels



  1. You will see this:




  1. Choose the “Labels” tab at the top of the window.

  2. Choose “Options…”


This is where you will need to choose the correct product and product number from the list on the bottom left of the window. I use Avery 8160 so it’s usually defaulted to that. Word will set the margins for you properly if you do this correctly.


Then click on “New Document” on the left side of the window.


You will have a new document that is ready for your addresses that you entered into your Excel doc. earlier.


Creating the Mail Merge

  1. Go to Tools> Letters and Mailings>Mail Merge Wizard.

  2. Choose Labels and then click on “Next: Starting document” link at the bottom of the wizard.

  3. Chose your starting document (I would use the default - “Use the current document”).

  4. Click on “Next: Select Recipients” link at the bottom of the wizard.

  5. Choose “Use an existing list”

  6. Click on:

  7. Choose the file you created above.

  8. You will choose the correct worksheet and then click “ok” from that document when this screen pops up:




  1. Then you will see your list of names and addresses. Click “ok” at the bottom.

  2. Click on “Next: Write your letter” link at the bottom of the wizard.

  3. Choose “Address Block”



Then, Click on “Match Fields”









This is where you will need to match the field names in your excel sheet to the required information section of the address block here in Word. If you name your columns as instructed above, you won’t need to change anything. Otherwise, your field names will be in the drop down menus on the right. You will choose the correct information (i.e.: “Zip” instead of “Postal Code”).


You may notice here that in the drop down menu corresponding to the “City” field says “(not available).” This is where you would need to click on the down arrow of that drop down menu and choose “Town” or whatever you referred to in your excel document as the city. The easiest way to do this is to just name your fields as given above.


When you are done, click “OK.”


  1. You will then see <<AddressBlock>>& on your document. When you click on it, it should turn gray.

  2. Then, check to see if your mail merge toolbar is visible (if it is, you will see “Insert Word Field” above your document).

  3. If it is not visible, click on View>Toolbars>Mail Merge:








26.You need to let Word know that you want the next record to follow, so do the following on your mail merge toolbar:

  1. You will then see: <<AddressBlock>><<Next Record>>

You need to copy this to every label on the page. This means that there will most likely be 3 rows at the top and 10 going down.


It will look similar to this:


  1. Click on “Next: Complete the merge” at the bottom of the wizard.

  2. You can then choose to Print your labels or edit individual letters. In the case of address labels this isn’t really applicable.

  3. Save your new document and print.


Posted byNikki at 6:58 PM 1 comments  

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How to create a blog
Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Happy New Year!

Ever since I can remember I've had a knack for teaching my family members how to use their computers and how to fix their technilogical blunders. So, I've decided to start this blog to help others as well. I am not sure how or where to start but I had a suggestion from my friend Lori (thebargainshopperlady.com) to teach people how to start a blog. So, that is where I will begin.

First off, this assumes that you have a basic knowledge of the internet (how to open a browser (like Internet Explorer or Firefox) and that you have a basic understanding of how to sign up for an account - like an email account.

  1. Choose a website to host your blog on. Some examples include: Livejournal.com, JournalHome.com, Blogger.com, WordPress.com, TheDiary.org, Blog.com. You'll want to look at their templates (you'll choose one that will be the shell of your blog) to see how your blog will be laid out.
  2. You'll then need to pick a name for your blog. It can be specific (something like this blog) or more broad (see http://www.lessonsfromandfortoby.blogspot.com/) if you want it to be more like an online journal. It's really up to you!
  3. Once you've done that, fill out the form (it may ask for a description and title, but nothing too personal). With Blogger, you will see a picture of some random letters or word that you need to input. This is for security reasons.
  4. After this, you should be able to click on "post" or "add post" or something similar and begin "blogging" away!

People use blogs for anything you can think of and so the limits for a blog are only your imagination.

Good luck and please let me know (via "post a comment") if you have any questions.

Posted byNikki at 7:29 PM 1 comments  

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