Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Increasing Envelope Address Lines.

Increasing Envelope Address Lines

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 3, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021


If you routinely use very long addresses in the envelopes you create in Word, you may have noticed that Word limits the number of lines you can put in an address. This limit does not make itself manifest while you are using the Envelopes tool (available on the Mailings tab of the ribbon) where you can enter as many lines as you like. Instead, Word just may decide to not print all of your address lines when you actually print or create the envelope. Different readers report an ability to print anywhere from six to eight lines, depending on font size.

The reason for this is quite simple. The Envelopes tool in Word depends on a predefined style when creating an envelope. The address style, appropriately enough, is named Envelope Address. When you click on either the Print or Add to Document buttons in the Envelopes and Labels dialog box, this style is grabbed and used for the address area itself.

The problem is that the style is defined to use a frame, which in and of itself is not a problem. The problem is that the frame is defined to be exactly a certain height. If the text won't fit in that frame, the bottom portion of your text is just cut off.

There is a simple fix to this problem: All you need to do is change the style. To do this, and get rid of this problem, follow these steps:

  1. Create a new, blank document based on the Normal template. (If you want to fix this problem in other templates, you should open the template directly or create a blank document based on that style.)
  2. With the Home tab of the ribbon displayed, click the small down-pointing arrow at the bottom-right of the Styles group. Word displays the Styles list.
  3. Click the Options link at the bottom of the Styles list. Word displays the Style Pane Options dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  4. Figure 1. The Style Pane Options dialog box.

  5. Using the Select Styles to Show drop-down list, choose All Styles.
  6. Click OK to dismiss the Style Pane Options dialog box. The Styles list now displays all the styles available at the current time.
  7. In the list of styles, hover the mouse pointer over the Envelope Address style. (You'll have to scroll through the list to find it; it is about two-thirds of the way down the list.)
  8. Click on the drop-down arrow that appears at the right side of the style name.
  9. Click on Modify. Word displays the Modify Style dialog box.
  10. Click on the Format button and choose Frame. Word displays the Frame dialog box. (See Figure 2.)
  11. Figure 2. The Frame dialog box.

  12. Using the Height drop-down list, select At Least.
  13. Click on OK to close the Frame dialog box.
  14. Make sure the New Documents Based on This Template radio button is selected, at the bottom of the Modify Style dialog box.
  15. Click on OK.
  16. Close the Styles list.

When you save your document or close Word, you are asked if you want to save your changes to the template. Make sure you do this. Now you will be able to have as many lines in your envelope as you desire, since the frame used by the Envelope Address style will grow to accommodate the length of any text you enter.

There is one caveat to this, of course: Envelopes are not physically infinite in size. This means that eventually your frame will overrun the bottom of the physical envelope. There is no real way to guard against this; you need to simply make sure that you manually limit the number of lines in your address.

For those who are familiar with frames, one way around this problem is to modify the other frame attributes used by the Envelope Address style. You can adjust the frame so it appears higher on the envelope, and simply change the "Exactly" height so the frame won't run off the page. You can also change other style attributes, such as the font size used. How you handle this is entirely up to you and the types of envelopes you create.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (5974) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Increasing Envelope Address Lines.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Getting Rid of Trailing Spaces in Footnotes and Endnotes

The Find and Replace tool can get rid of trailing spaces in paragraphs quite nicely. If those spaces are at the end of ...

Discover More

Backing Up Building Blocks

Got a lot of Building Blocks defined in Word? You can back them up rather easily, but first you need to figure out where ...

Discover More

Displaying Edits by Date

Track Changes is a great tool; it allows you to see what changes were made in a document and then determine whether you ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Delivery Address Won't Print on Envelopes

Word includes a feature that allows you to easily create and print envelopes, based on the addresses you insert in your ...

Discover More

Adding Text to an Envelope

Need to customize the way that Word prints envelopes? There are a couple of approaches you can use, as discussed in this tip.

Discover More

Changing the Return Address Location

When Word creates envelopes for you, there may be times that you don't like where it places the return address. ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 2 + 8?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.