The instructions below are for WORD 2002 from OfficeXP. Other versions may differ and you'll have to consult the manual for your version. The newest version of Word that goes with Vista is much easier but is very different. I'm assuming very few people have the newest version.
It is not difficult to make labels in WORD from a database, but it is really tedious because it takes many steps. This is because WORD offers you so many choices. So, print out this page and follow the instructions very carefully. Before you begin, you need to have a database of the information from which you will be making the labels. So, I am assuming that you have already made the file from the sample on the previous page and you now have a file named "MainFile.txt" in MyDocuments. ( A note on large files: WORD is pretty robust, but if you are printing more than 10,000 labels, it will probably choke. If you are actually printing that many labels, you should probably be using a mail house rather than doing it yourself. If you really want to print them all yourself, you'll just have to divide up the text database into a couple of different files.)
Step A: Open WORD and open a blank document.
Step B: Click on TOOLS, then on LETTERS AND MAILINGS, then on MAIL MERGE WIZARD. Do NOT choose "envelopes and labels". This is where you can easily go wrong when you try to make labels in WORD. I know it is tempting, but it is the wrong choice.
Step C: Look to the far right of your screen. You'll see a list titled SELECT DOCUMENT TYPE. Choose LABELS.
Step D: Now look at the right side of the screen at the bottom. It says "Step 1 of 6." So, I'm now going to change to numbers for the steps to keep it consistent with what you see on your screen. Below "Step 1 of 6," click on NEXT: STARTING DOCUMENT.
Step 2 of 6: Look back up the right side of the screen, where you will see SELECT STARTING DOCUMENT. Choose CHANGE DOCUMENT LAYOUT. It may already be the default choice. Now look just below that where it again says CHANGE DOCUMENT LAYOUT and click on LABEL OPTIONS. A box pops up that says LABEL OPTIONS. I use Avery 5160 labels. Choose whatever you are going to use and click OK. Now look down to the bottom right of the screen again where it says STEP 2 OF 6 and click on NEXT: SELECT RECIPIENTS.
Step 3 of 6: Look back up the right side of the screen. There are two things you need to do. Under SELECT RECIPIENTS, choose USE AN EXISTING LIST. It may already be the default choice. Now look just below that and you will see that it again says USE AN EXISTING LIST. Under that heading, click on BROWSE. Here is where it gets a little tricky. A box pops up that says SELECT DATA SOURCE. Where it says LOOK IN, the default folder is probably MY DATA SOURCES. Well, you don't want that. You need to find the MyDocuments folder. So, just to the right of the place where it says MY DATA SOURCES, there is a little icon of a folder with an up arrow in it. Click on that. If you are lucky that puts you in MyDocuments. If not, you'll have to navigate around until you find MyDocuments. Once you find MyDocuments, you should see the file you saved earlier called "MainFile.txt." If you don't see it, you may have to look at the bottom of that box that is on your screen where it says FILES OF TYPE, click the drop down list and choose ALL FILES (*.*). If you have lots of files in MyDocuments, you may have to scroll across until you see "MainFile.txt" in the alphabetical list of your files. Double click on "MainFile.txt" and then wait. And I do mean WAIT. Word usually takes awhile at this point. Eventually, you'll get a pop up box that says MAIL MERGE RECIPIENTS (It may take a few moments for this box to appear). You can do all sorts of sophisticated things at this point. For example, if you click directly on LAST NAME (not on the arrow), it will alphabetize the list for you. If you click again it will reverse alphabetize. Likewise, if you click on ZIP_CODE, it will put the list in zip code order. You can experiment with this box later. For now, just click OK at the bottom right of the box. Now look down at the bottom right of your screen where it says STEP 3 OF 6 and click on NEXT: ARRANGE YOUR LABELS.
Step 4 of 6: Now look back up the right side of the screen. You'll see a heading that says ARRANGE YOUR LABELS. Click on ADDRESS BLOCK. A box pops up that says INSERT ADDRESS BLOCK. This gets a little wierd. The first heading is INSERT RECIPIENTS NAME IN THIS FORMAT. Make sure the box is checked and "Mr. Joshua Randall Jr". is highlighted. That should be the default anyway. The second heading is INSERT COMPANY NAME. Make sure that box is also checked. The third heading is INSERT POSTAL ADDRESS. Make sure that box is also checked and then click on NEVER INCLUDE THE COUNTRY/REGION IN THE ADDRESS. Below that it will say PREVIEW, which shows you what the addresses are going to look like. Below that it says MATCH FIELDS. Click on MATCH FIELDS. I want you to pay attention to that. If you fail to click on MATCH FIELDS, it will really screw things up. A box pops up that says MATCH FIELDS. Just click on OK. (I have set it up in MainList.txt so that WORD will automatically know which field should be First Name, Last Name etc. If you are using a different text database, you will have to manually match the fields.) Now you are back at the INSERT ADDRESS BLOCK box. Click OK again. Now look midway down the right side of your screen where it says REPLICATE LABELS. Click on UPDATE ALL LABELS. Again, if you fail to do this, it will really screw things up. Now look at the bottom right of the screen where it says STEP 4 OF 6 and click on NEXT: PREVIEW YOUR LABELS.
Step 5 of 6: You will now see a preview of your labels. If you like the typeface and the size of the print in the preview, you can just go to the bottom of the right side of your screen where it says STEP 5 OF 6 and click on COMPLETE THE MERGE. If your default typeface is wrong or too big, you can go to the top of the screen, click on EDIT, then SELECT ALL and then change the font and font size. To do this, you have to be sure you have the formatting toolbar open. So, position your cursor next to where it says HELP (just to the right of HELP) and right click your mouse. The possible toolbars show up in a box. If FORMATTING is not checked, check it. Now look at the toolbar and find the box for FONT and the smaller box right next to it for FONT SIZE. You may have to move your cursor across the boxes to get their names to show. In the FONT box, I prefer ARIAL. In the FONT SIZE box, I use 9. When you make these choices, you will see the size and typeface of the labels change. When you have what you want, go to the bottom right of the screen where it says STEP 5 OF 6 and click on COMPLETE THE MERGE.
Step 6 of 6: Ok you are nearly done. Just one tricky thing left. Make sure you have your paper in your printer. Now look at the right side of your screen, midway down where it says MERGE. Click on PRINT. (This may be odd for you if you are used to using the printer icon or going to FILE, PRINT. Don't go to FILE, PRINT. Don't use the print icon.) When you click on PRINT, a little box pops up that says MERGE TO PRINTER. Check ALL, then click OK. Now you get that old familiar pop up box that says PRINT. Choose the printer you want to use. PAGE RANGE should be set to ALL. NUMBER OF COPIES should be set to 1. Now click OK. You may get an annoying little pop up box that says that a particular record was empty. If so, just click OK. All it means is that you have a blank label in the last row because when Word got to that last row, there were not enough addresses left to fill it. Your labels should now be printing.