How to use it
- In Excel, select the column of values (and an optional second column of text) and copy.
- Paste into the box on the left. Each row is checked instantly.
- Download images, or click Make labels to print sheets.
Three ways to make barcodes from Excel
| Method | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Barcode font (e.g. "3 of 9") | Quick, stays in the sheet | Font must be installed on every PC; needs * start/stop characters; Code 128 and UPC fonts need a check-digit formula; often fails to scan |
| Word mail merge (MERGEBARCODE) | Built into Word | Fiddly setup; limited types and sizing |
| This generator | No install, any type, validated, labels or images | A copy-paste step outside Excel |
Why barcode fonts so often don't scan
- Missing start/stop characters. Code 39 fonts need
*around the value; without them nothing reads. - No check digit. Code 128 and UPC fonts need a special encoding formula. Typing the plain number into the font produces bars that look right but don't scan.
- Font substitution. Send the sheet to someone without the font and they see plain text.
- Scaling. Shrinking the font size makes bars too thin for your printer.
Keep your leading zeros
Excel stores UPCs as numbers and drops leading zeros, so 036000291452 becomes 36000291452. To prevent it, format the column as Text before typing. If it already happened, paste anyway: for UPC, EAN and ITF-14 we restore the zeros when the check digit confirms the original number.
Google Sheets
It works the same way: select, copy and paste. Or download the sheet as .csv or .xlsx and upload it.