Shipping Label Template — Free Printable 4×6 Label (PDF)
A shipping label template you fill in right here and download as a print-ready PDF — free, no account required. The label is laid out at the 4×6 carrier standard in UPS, USPS, FedEx, or DHL layout. Free downloads print it on an 8.5×11 letter page you cut and tape from any home printer; paid plans add native 4×6 PDFs for thermal printers. A real fill-in template, not a static file you have to edit somewhere else.
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Which Template Size Do You Need?
There are only two sizes that matter for parcel shipping, and the right one depends entirely on your printer — not your carrier. Every major carrier accepts both.
4×6 inches is the industry standard. Thermal label printers print it natively on adhesive stock — stick it on and you are done, no tape, no cutting, no ink. If you ship more than a few packages a week, this format plus a thermal printer pays for itself quickly (native 4×6 PDFs are part of the paid plans; free downloads use the letter layout below). Our 4×6 label guide covers the size in depth, and the thermal printing guide explains the technology side.
8.5×11 letter is the print-and-tape route for regular inkjet and laser printers: the PDF places the 4×6 label in the top half of the page with dotted cut guides — cut along them and tape the label flat to the box. Clear tape over every edge, never over the barcode area with glossy tape that can glare under a scanner. See the letter-size label guide for the full print-and-tape workflow.
What a Shipping Label Template Includes
Carrier labels look different brand to brand, but the anatomy is consistent, and the template reproduces it per carrier:
- Sender block (top left, small type) — your return address.
- Recipient block (center, large type) — the destination address, the part carriers OCR-scan first.
- Service band — the stripe or indicator showing the service level (Ground, Priority, Express), which sorting staff read at a glance.
- Routing barcode area— where the carrier's scannable barcode lives. On a template this is a placeholder: real barcodes encode a paid tracking number and only the carrier issues them.
- Weight and reference fields — package weight, ship date, and optional order or reference numbers.
Pick the carrier in the tool above and the layout follows that carrier's conventions — the same formats our UPS, USPS, FedEx, and DHL label makers produce.
Sample Shipping Label: A Filled-In Example
Here is what a completed template looks like, zone by zone. Every carrier moves these fields around a little, but the parts are always the same. The names and addresses below are made up.
- Service band — the shipping speed in large type at the top, so sorters can read it at a glance.
- From — your return address, small, top left.
- Ship to — the biggest text on the label. Include the apartment or unit number on the street line.
- Weight and reference — package weight and your own order number, so you can match the box to the order later.
- Barcode — on a template this encodes your reference number. On a paid carrier label, this spot holds the tracking barcode instead.
Trying to make sense of a label you received? Our guide on how to write and read a shipping label walks through every code on real USPS, UPS and FedEx labels.
How to Make Your Own Shipping Label for Free
- Enter both addressesin the template at the top of this page — yours as the sender, your buyer's as the recipient.
- Pick the carrier layout (UPS, USPS, FedEx or DHL) and add the weight and an optional order number.
- Download the PDF, print it, cut along the guides and tape it flat to the largest side of the box.
That gives you a clean, correctly laid-out label. To actually send the package you still need postage — see the honest note below for where that comes from.
A template is not postage — here's the honest line
This tool formats a label document; it does not sell shipping. To actually mail a package you buy postage from the carrier or a postage platform, which issues the real tracking barcode. Where a template earns its keep: practicing printer alignment before burning label stock, internal warehouse and storage labels, pre-formatting labels you finish inside a postage platform, teaching new packing staff, and mockups for listings or documentation. If you want the cheapest real postage, compare rates on Pirate Ship or read our cheapest-way-to-ship guide.
Prefer an Editable Word or Google Docs Template?
A PDF template wins for print fidelity — what you see is exactly what prints. But if you need to keep an editable file in your own tooling, a Word template with a 4×6 text-box layout (or Avery label stock like 5163 at 2×4 in or 5164 at 3.33×4 in) works too, with the usual trade-offs: layouts shift between machines, margins need manual calibration, and bulk runs require mail merge. We keep a full walkthrough — including exact Avery sheet setups and mail-merge steps — in the Word shipping label template guide.
Printing questions — thermal vs. inkjet, label stock choices, alignment — are covered in how to print shipping labels at home and our label printer buyer's guide.