Gadgetwise Blog: Q&A: How to Turn an Excel Spreadsheet into Mailing Labels

I have Microsoft Office and a list of addresses in an Excel spreadsheet. Is there a way to get these addresses into Word so I can create stick-on mailing labels out of them?

You can import the address data on the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet into Microsoft Word and make labels out of them with Word’s Mail Merge feature. The process does take several steps, but saves quite a bit of time in the long run.

Those precise steps vary based on which version of Microsoft Office you are using, but generally goes like this: You set up a label template in Word, format the type in the text field, import the data from the Excel spreadsheet with the mail merge command and then print the labels. (A quick video overview gives you an idea of what to expect.)

Microsoft’s site has its own detailed instructions for the entire label-making process from an Excel spreadsheet, as well as the steps for making labels from Outlook contacts. Once you get the addresses set up, you just need the blank labels to run through the printer. Word’s Labels tool can create templates for a variety of popular adhesive label sheets from Avery and other office-supply companies, including the common Avery 5160 style that fits 30 labels per sheet.

If you are unfamiliar with some of Word’s more advanced features, using the mail merge feature may take a bit of practice. Microsoft has an interactive online course and a 15-minute video “Webinar” that further explain how to use it.

Gadgetwise Blog: Q&A: Mailing Web Links with Mac Mail

When I use the little arrow menu to send an e-mail a link from the Safari browser in OS X Mountain Lion, it pastes a copy of the whole page within the body of a Mail message. Is there a way to just send a link to the page?

Apple has included several ways to share Web pages in OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) and you can still send just a link in a message. When you use the “Share” menu — the small button with an arrow on it located just to the left of the Safari address box — and choose the “Email This Page” option, the Mac should open up a new message from its Mail program. If you see a copy of the entire page in the message body instead of just a link, look up in the lower part of the message’s header area.

Right below the Subject line, on the right side of the message you should see a small drop-down menu next to “Send Web Content As.” Click on the menu to see a list of options: Reader, Web Page, PDF and Link Only. Select the “Link Only” item to change the content in the message body from “Web Page” to just a link. (Of the other two options, “Reader” sends the page content in a stripped-down, easy-to-read text format and “PDF” converts the page to a PDF attachment to the message.

If you want a quicker way to mail a link to a Web page you are currently browsing in Safari, press Command-Shift-I on the keyboard. (Pressing Command-I while the page is open in Safari creates a new Mail message with the Web Page in the message body.) For a more menu-oriented approach to sending a link from Safari, hold down the Shift key go to the File menu, to Share and select “Email Link to This Page.” If you do not press the Shift key, the Share menu item reverts to “Email This Page.”