Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 26, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365
Word includes a tool that allows you to quickly and easily set up labels. (You learn about creating labels in other issues of WordTips.) If you are using labels that have more vertical space that is required for the information you are printing, you may want to vertically center the text within a label.
If you create a full sheet of the same label using the Envelopes and Labels tool, then the labels should already be centered vertically. If you are creating labels using the Mail Merge feature, however, the labels may not appear to be centered vertically. The reason they appear this way is because Word often adds some extra empty paragraphs at the end of each label.
For instance, I created a mail-merge page of labels that used four lines. Word stuck an extra two lines at the end of each of my labels. The first was a blank line, and the second contained the end-of-cell marker for the table—but it still acts like a blank line. The result is that Word takes the blank lines into account when vertically centering the text in the label, and it appears to be aligned at the top of the label.
Unfortunately, there is only one way to fix this: by hand. You can get rid of the blank lines by following these steps:
Your labels should now be centered vertically.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11980) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Vertically Centering Labels.
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