Create Barcodes in Excel
This easy to use add-in for Excel 365 creates all common linear barcode types directly in your sheet. Simply select the source data, choose barcode type, size and placement and convert your data to barcodes in a single click.
Installing the barcode fonts and add-in
Close Excel before proceeding. Please note that the Barcode Add-In requires Excel 365.
Using the demo
Download - The demo is fully functional but will only create Code 39. After downloading, proceed to next step, "Installing".
Using the full version
Buy now - You will receive a download link directly after check-out. After downloading, proceed to next step, "Installing".
Installing
Unzip the downloaded archive by right-clicking and selecting
Extract all from the context menu.
Then, open the folder
Fonts.
In the folder select all available fonts (the demo will only come with the Code 39 font).
Right-click for context menu and select
Install. This will install the barcode fonts on your PC.
You may be prompted for an administrator password.
Next, go back to the parent folder and double-click
setup.exe. Follow the instructions on your screen.
This will install the
Barcode Add-In on your PC.
Verifying the installation
Launch Excel and in the ribbon switch to the
Add-Ins tab.
You should see the
Barcode Add-In pane:
Click the
Info button and verify that the barcode fonts are listed. If you are running the demo of
the
Barcode AddIn, the dialog will only list the Code 39 font.
Creating a single barcode in Excel
We begin by inserting a single barcode into the sheet:
- Select the cells you want to convert into barcodes
- In the Add-ins tab, locate the Softmatic add-in panel
- Click the Create Barcode button
- In the dialog, select the barcode type and size
- Next, choose the barcode placement and the size of the text under the code
- Finally, click Ok to insert the barcodes into your sheet
Let's look into the individual steps in more detail:
In cell A1, enter the value 1000. Hit <Enter>,
then click into the cell to select it.
Next, click the Create Barcode button to open the barcode creation dialog:
The add-in defaults to Code 128 (Demo: Code 39) and placement of the code into the cell right to the source data. Leave all settings at default
and click
Ok.
You should see a barcode in cell
B1.
Creating a barcode sequence in Excel
Next, let's create a barcode sequence in Excel. Using auto-fill, create a list of numbers, starting with 100000 and
incrementing by one. Make sure to select the generated numbers.
Next, click the
Create Barcode button to open the barcode creation dialog:
Again, we'll be creating Code 128 (Demo: Code 39). Adjust the size to your liking, you can also experiment with the human readable text
that goes under the barcode.
This time we don't need the original numbers anymore so we select
Overwrite source cell in the
Position pane.
Clicking
Ok overwrites the original sequence with barcodes:
Excel Add-In Supported Barcode Symbologies
The current version of the barcode add-in (V5) supports the following barcode types:
- EAN 8, normal and reduced height
- EAN 13, normal and reduced height
- UPC-A, normal and reduced height
- Code 128 A, B, C
- Code 128 GS1 (aka 128 UCC, 128 EAN)
- Code 39 / Code 39 Extended, normal and high density
- Code 2/5 Interleaved (ITF-14), normal and high density
- Code 2/5 Industrial
This table lists the requirements for the different types with regard to check digit calculation, encoded data and size:
Symbology | Data | Check digit | Remarks |
EAN 8 | 7 or 8 digits | always | Use size 36pt. with EAN Red., 72pt with EAN Standard
See Excel EAN Barcodes... |
EAN 13 | 12 or 13 digits | always | Use size 36pt. with EAN Red., 72pt with EAN Standard
See Excel EAN Barcodes... |
UPC-A | 11 or 12 digits | always | Use size 36pt. with UPC Red., 72pt with UPC Standard
See Excel UPC Barcodes... |
Code 128 | Digits, letters, special chars (max. 40 chars) | always | Automatic selection of
Code 128 sub types A, B, C
Recommended size: 24pt. or higher
See Excel Code 128 Barcodes... |
Code 128 GS1/EAN/UCC | Digits, letters, parenthesized application identifier (max.
40 chars) | always | Automatic selection of Code 128 sub types A, B, C
Enter your data including application
identifiers, e.g. (01)1234567890. The software will
automatically insert all required FNC1 symbols.
Recommended size: 24pt. or higher
See Excel Code 128 GS1 Barcodes... |
Code 2/5 Interleaved | Digits 0-9 (max. 40 digits) | optional | Recommended size: 24pt. or higher |
Code 2/5 Industrial | Digits 0-9 (max. 40 digits) | optional | Recommended size: 24pt. or higher |
Code 39 / 39 Extended | Digits, letters (max. 40 chars) | optional | Automatic selection
of Code 39 / Code 39 Extended
Recommended size: 24pt. or higher |
Excel Barcode Add-In Miscellaneous
- Redistributing an Excel sheet with barcodes
Barcode fonts can not be embedded into Excel sheets. Therefore the barcode fonts have to be installed
on any machine that will open such a sheet. The add-in is only required on the machine where the codes
were generated in the first place.
Please note that each installation of the fonts requires a license, see our online store for multi user
licenses. On the other hand, printing / exporting a sheet with barcodes to a PDF / XPS is possible
and permitted with any license.
- Undoing barcode generation
Actions performed by an add-in (like barcode creation) are not registered with the Excel undo stack.
Therefore the barcode generation can not be undone; best practice is to save a snapshot of the sheet
so that you can revert to the previous state of the sheet. Alternatively, select the column with the created
barcodes and delete it.
- Updating barcodes
The created barcodes are not "live"; if you change value in the source cell, the barcode will
not update. Simply delete the barcode and create a new one.