How to print Avery 5163 shipping labels from Google Sheets

The 5163 layout in numbers

Every template for this label, whether it comes from Avery, a Word file or an add-on, uses the same grid on US Letter paper (8.5″ × 11″):

Check: across, 0.15625 + 4 + 0.1875 + 4 + 0.15625 = 8.5″. Down, 0.5 + 5 × 2 + 0.5 = 11″. If a template you downloaded doesn’t add up to the page like this, it is set for a different label or for A4 paper.

A 2″ × 4″ label holds a lot more than an address label. At 12 pt you can fit about nine lines, and at 10 pt about eleven, which leaves room for a return address, a recipient block and an order number or contents line.

Labels that use the same layout

Avery sells this size in several versions, all with the same 2″ × 4″, 10-up grid. Anything in this guide works for:

• 5163: white shipping labels for laser printers.
• 8163: the inkjet version.
• 5263, 5523 and 18163: other finishes and packs of the same size.

Store brands often print “compatible with 5163/8163” on the box, and they use the same numbers. Match laser labels to a laser printer and inkjet labels to an inkjet, because the wrong pairing smudges or curls. Labels that are 3⅓″ × 4″ (6 per sheet, Avery 5164) or a single half-sheet label are different layouts, so the table below won’t line up with them.

Get the sheet ready

Put one shipment per row and one field per column, with headers in row 1. A typical shipping list:

• Format the ZIP column as Plain text (Format → Number → Plain text) before you paste ZIP codes. Otherwise 02108 becomes 2108. To repair a column that already lost its zeros, use =TEXT(G2,"00000") in a helper column.
• A Ship checkbox (Insert → Checkbox) lets you tick only today’s parcels, instead of copying them to a new tab.
• Keep addresses complete. A label is only as good as the row behind it. If some addresses are in a single cell, our guide to splitting addresses into columns separates them, and the ZIP code guide fills in missing ZIPs.

If you’ll use a Docs table, add one more column, Label, that builds the whole address in one cell, one line per field. In J2:

=TEXTJOIN(CHAR(10), TRUE, A2, B2, C2, D2, E2&", "&F2&" "&G2)

TEXTJOIN with TRUE skips empty cells, so a row with no Company or Street 2 has no blank line. Fill it down. For Maya Ortiz the cell reads:

Maya Ortiz
418 Alder Ln
Apt 3
Eugene, OR 97401

1. Free: a Google Docs table

Google Docs has no label templates, but a two-column table set to the measurements above prints on a 5163 sheet. Build it once and save it as your template.

1. Create a new document. In File → Page setup, choose Pages, Letter, Portrait, and set the margins: top 0.5, bottom 0.5, left 0.15625, right 0.15625. Docs may show 0.16; that’s fine.
2. Insert → Table, 2 columns × 5 rows.
3. Select the whole table, right-click, and choose Table properties.
   • Column 1 width: 4.1875″ (the label plus the gap), column 2 width: 4″. Together they fill the 8.1875″ between the margins. Making the first column wider is how the gap is created without an empty middle column.
   • Minimum row height: 2″.
   • Cell padding: 0.08″ or a little more, so text stays clear of the rounded corners.
   • Table border: 0 pt, so no lines print.
4. Docs puts an empty paragraph under every table. Click just below the table and press Delete or Backspace until it’s gone, or set its font size to 1 pt. If you skip this, the page overflows and every other page comes out blank.
5. In the sheet, copy the Label column and paste it into a spare column with Edit → Paste special → Values only. Then, for each label, double-click a value cell, press Ctrl+A (Cmd+A on a Mac) to select the text inside it, copy, click the next Docs cell, left to right and top to bottom, and paste. Copying the text from inside the cell keeps the line breaks; copying the whole cell instead can paste a small table into the label or wrap the text in quote marks.
6. For the second sheet, select the whole table, copy it, and paste it below: a new page starts automatically when the first is full.

Pasting ten labels is quick. Pasting 120 is not, and a Docs table is a copy: if you correct an address in the sheet, the label doesn’t change. Keep the empty table as a template (File → Make a copy each time) and this method stays practical up to two or three sheets. For longer lists, the add-on below fills the grid from the rows for you.

Fonts that read well at this size: Arial, Roboto or Lato at 11 to 12 pt for the address, with the recipient’s name in bold. Avoid anything under 9 pt on a parcel, because sorting machines and couriers read at arm’s length.

A FROM and TO block on every label

Shipping labels usually carry your return address too. Put it once in a cell, for example H1 on the same tab, written over three lines with Ctrl+Enter (Cmd+Enter on a Mac) between them:

Cedar & Thread Studio
12 Mill Rd
Portland, OR 97205

Then build the whole label in a column, using the Label column from above (J2):

="FROM:"&CHAR(10)&$H$1&CHAR(10)&CHAR(10)&"TO:"&CHAR(10)&J2

The $H$1 stays fixed as you fill down, so every label gets the same return address. That’s nine lines for a recipient with four, which fits at 11 pt. If a recipient has a company line and a second street line, it becomes ten or eleven: drop the font to 10 pt or move the return address to one line, such as Cedar & Thread Studio, 12 Mill Rd, Portland, OR 97205.

The US Postal Service asks for the return address in the top-left and the delivery address lower down and to the right on a parcel, which is what this block does when the label goes on the top of the box. Make the TO name bold in Docs to help it stand out.

For a packing slip or a box-contents label instead, swap the FROM block for an order line: ="Order "&H2&CHAR(10)&J2, where H is your Order column.

2. Straight from the sheet: LabelRows

LabelRows has this layout built in as Shipping labels 2″ × 4″ (10 per sheet), compatible with Avery 5163, 5263, 5523, 8163 and 18163, and it is one of the sizes on the free plan.

1. Install LabelRows, open your sheet, and click the LabelRows icon (an orange tag) in the side panel on the right.
2. Choose Shipping labels 2″ × 4″ (10 per sheet).
3. Write the label with your column names in double braces. For a FROM/TO label, type the return address as plain text and the recipient as fields:
   FROM: Cedar & Thread Studio, 12 Mill Rd, Portland, OR 97205

TO:
{{Name}}
{{Company}}
{{Street}}
{{Street 2}}
{{City}}, {{State}} {{ZIP}}
   Lines whose fields are all empty are dropped, so a missing Company or Street 2 leaves no gap. Update preview shows the first row.
4. Pick the rows: all, a range such as 2 to 31, the rows you’ve selected, or Only rows ticked in your Ship column.
5. Choose a font and size, turn on Bold first line if you start with the name, and click Create labels. A new Google Doc appears in your Drive, laid out on the 5163 grid. Print it at 100%.

Test, then nudge

1. Print the first page on plain paper at 100% / Actual size with the paper set to Letter. “Fit to page” or A4 shrinks the grid.
2. Hold the paper against a sheet of labels in front of a window or a lamp.
3. If every label is off by the same amount, the layout is right and your printer shifts the page slightly. In a Docs table, change the top or left margin by that amount. In LabelRows, use Printer alignment to move everything right or down by up to 0.5″ either way, and print the free test page again.
4. If the error grows down the page, something is scaling the page: check the scale and paper size in the print dialog.
5. Feed label sheets the way your printer’s manual says (often face down in the tray, or face up in a manual feed slot), one test sheet first.

Save the corrected Doc or nudge setting. Printers are consistent, so you only do this once per printer.

Postage and carrier labels

A 5163 label from Sheets is an address label. It doesn’t carry postage, a tracking number or a carrier barcode, and nothing in this guide creates one. That’s fine for parcels you take to the counter or post with stamps, and for box-contents and packing labels.

For paid postage you need the carrier’s own label. USPS Click-N-Ship, UPS and FedEx each print shipping labels with postage from their websites, and most of them can print onto a 4″ × 6″ label or a half sheet, which is a different product from 5163. Many sellers use both: the carrier label for postage, and a 5163 label from the sheet for the return address, order number or “Fragile” notes.

Common problems

• Every other page prints blank. The empty paragraph after the Docs table is pushing onto a new page. Delete it, or set it to 1 pt.
• The right column is cut off. The table is wider than the space between the margins. Check that the columns are 4.1875″ and 4″ and the side margins are about 0.16″.
• Labels drift lower down the page. The row height is above 2″ because a cell has too many lines. Reduce the font or the lines, or set the row height to exactly 2″ and let long text be cut.
• ZIP codes are missing a zero. The column was a number. Format it as Plain text and re-enter, or use TEXT(G2,"00000") in the label formula.
• Quote marks or a mini table appear in a label. The whole cell was copied. Double-click the value cell, select the text inside it, and copy that instead.
• Ink smears. You may have inkjet labels in a laser printer or the reverse; 5163 is for laser and 8163 for inkjet.

Frequently asked questions

Related

• Print Avery 5160 labels from Google Sheets
• How to print address labels from Google Sheets
• How to print Christmas card address labels from Google Sheets
• LabelRows documentation
• All guides

Disclosure: we make LabelRows, the Google Sheets add-on mentioned in this guide. We describe the other methods as fairly as we can, including when they are the better choice.

Google Sheets and Google Docs are trademarks of Google LLC. Avery is a registered trademark of Avery Products Corporation. USPS, UPS and FedEx are trademarks of their respective owners. LabelRows and Cellbrook are not affiliated with or endorsed by Google, Avery or any carrier.