# Turning PalmPilot Contact info Address Labels - best way? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 8, 2004, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-palmpilot-contact-info-address-labels-best-way/278763 "2004-12-08T16:43:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-palmpilot-contact-info-address-labels-best-way/278763/1 "2004-12-08T16:43:36Z")
I am searching on this and haven’t found the best answer - any Dopers have experience with this: I have the mailing lable sheets I can feed into my printer - should I export the contact file to MS Word or Excel? - how can I do it so it will require the least formatting after export? Right now, I end up with the contact info all on one line. How can I get it in label format: name address city, state zip - how can I get it in rows, so they match the address labels on the page? I was thinking that I could export to Excel then cut and paste the addresses into rows - that would be easier than trying to use tabs in Word - or I could use a Table in Word…any thoughts? If you have a specific website that you would recommend I check, please let me know. ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-palmpilot-contact-info-address-labels-best-way/278763/2 "2004-12-08T16:49:28Z")
I think the best way is to export to Excel, make sure each line is a separate column (may have to c&p for this, depending on how the info is exported) then save your workbook. Go into word and go to tools\>letters and mailings\>mail merge, then choose labels. Follow instructions after that to choose the type of labels, and make sure you match up your fields. (i.e. name to name, address to address, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-palmpilot-contact-info-address-labels-best-way/278763/3 "2004-12-08T19:32:11Z")
That worked **XJETGIRLX** - thanks. I figured out based on your post and some further investigation that I could import an Excel file with the contact info all on one line in Excel and it woudl format it correctly in Word. Cool. ---
**Author:** ![Qwisp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qwisp/32/397_2.png) [@Qwisp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwisp)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-palmpilot-contact-info-address-labels-best-way/278763/4 "2004-12-09T00:37:13Z")
Where was this question earlier, when I was attempting the same thing?I got fed up with trying,and hand wrote all my labels for Chritmas cards ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-palmpilot-contact-info-address-labels-best-way/278763/5 "2004-12-09T14:37:49Z")
UPDATE: The Great News: Got 'em done - thanks again. The Challenging News/Question: Okay, how am I supposed to handle Zip Codes that start with “0”??? I set the cell format in Excel to “Special - Zip Code” and it looks just right - 0xxxx; but when I import it into Word using the Mail Wizard, it just comes up xxxx - no 0!!! I even tried to individually edit each label and added a “0” manually, but they still didn’t print. I eventually just faked it and stashed their zip code in their State field and printed it off that way - a pain, but at least I only had a few addresses to those states… What is the correct way to do this - anyone? ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-palmpilot-contact-info-address-labels-best-way/278763/6 "2004-12-09T15:03:48Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > UPDATE: > > The Great News: Got 'em done - thanks again. > > The Challenging News/Question: Okay, how am I supposed to handle Zip Codes that start with “0”??? I set the cell format in Excel to “Special - Zip Code” and it looks just right - 0xxxx; but when I import it into Word using the Mail Wizard, it just comes up xxxx - no 0!!! > > I even tried to individually edit each label and added a “0” manually, but they still didn’t print. I eventually just faked it and stashed their zip code in their State field and printed it off that way - a pain, but at least I only had a few addresses to those states… > > What is the correct way to do this - anyone? Hrm. I’ve never encountered this problem before, not having had the opportunity to use a zip code beginning with zero but have you tried using the letter O instead? It might look a little different, but may serve the purpose. ---
**Author:** ![SavageNarce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@SavageNarce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SavageNarce)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-palmpilot-contact-info-address-labels-best-way/278763/7 "2004-12-09T17:47:08Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > …how am I supposed to handle Zip Codes that start with “0”??? The Excel “Zip Code” format that you used is just a number with leading zeroes displayed. To get what you want, you need to change the number into text. Use the Excel function =TEXT(a1,“00000”) where a1 is the cell address of the zip code. ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-palmpilot-contact-info-address-labels-best-way/278763/8 "2004-12-09T18:55:02Z")
I don’t understand the need to export into Excel. The Palm DESKTOP software, that resides on your computer…has the ability to print out address labels. See [here](http://kb.palmone.com/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE?New,Kb=PalmSupportKB,ts=Palm_External2001,case=obj(2580)) , for example ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-palmpilot-contact-info-address-labels-best-way/278763/9 "2004-12-09T19:01:15Z")
Hmm on review, I should amend my previous response. Apparently in Windows, the above suggestion also requires the use of MS Word. In the Mac version of the Palm Desktop (that I use) , you can directly print labels…perhaps the Windows version is different? [http://www.palmone.com/us/software/desktop/mac.html](http://www.palmone.com/us/software/desktop/mac.html) > [@](#): > > Custom Print Options - Print address books, calendars, mailing labels, fax covers, to-do lists, and more. Check out the exact description and preview before you print to help you avoid wasting time, paper and ink. You can even print in color! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turning-palmpilot-contact-info-address-labels-best-way/278763/10 "2004-12-09T19:19:23Z")
Wow **beagledave** - I didn’t even think to check that out. I will - thanks.