Excel barcode generator
Drop in your Excel workbook, map the column you want encoded, and get scan-ready barcodes — no CSV conversion, nothing ever leaves your browser.
Upload your workbook directly — no CSV conversion needed
Drop your .xlsx (or .xls) file into the bulk generator above and it reads the first sheet automatically — no exporting to CSV first, no re-saving in a different format. If the first row looks like column names rather than data, it's detected and used to label the column pickers; if not, you'll see generic column numbers instead and can still map by position. Pick which column holds the value to encode and, optionally, a second column for a human-readable label printed under each barcode, then choose a symbology — EAN-13 or UPC-A for real GTINs, Code 128 for SKUs or any other text. The first five rows render as real barcodes immediately, so you catch a wrong column before generating the rest of a large sheet. From there, export a ZIP of PNG or SVG images, or click "Send to label sheets" to carry the mapped rows straight into the label-sheet builder for an Avery-ready PDF — no re-uploading, no re-mapping.
Why not barcode fonts in Excel?
Barcode fonts are a common Excel workaround, but they come with real gaps compared to an actual rendered barcode image. A raw Code 128 font doesn't just re-style your text as bars — depending on the font, you still need to compute and insert the correct start code and checksum character yourself, usually with a helper formula, before the visible text will scan as anything meaningful. Fonts marketed for EAN-13 or UPC-A need a separate encoder step to compute the check digit, since font glyphs alone can't validate a GTIN. Even with the encoding right, printed font output often fails scanner verification: retail scanners are strict about quiet zones (the blank margin on each side of the bars) and the bar width, and a font sized or kerned slightly off in a spreadsheet cell can look fine on-screen while still failing to scan at the register. Commercial-use licensing also varies by font — some are free for any use, many require a paid license once you're printing labels for a business. Uploading your sheet here sidesteps all of it: check digits are computed automatically for every symbology that needs one, every barcode is rendered (and, on the home page, scan-verified against a real decoder) as an actual image rather than styled text, and the result is free to use commercially with nothing to license.
Embedding a barcode directly in a cell
If you want a barcode image living inside the spreadsheet itself rather than a separate label or ZIP file, both Google Sheets and Excel 365 (cloud-connected) support an =IMAGE() formula that pulls a live image from a URL into a cell. Point it at our /api/barcode endpoint (see /api docs for the exact formula and parameters) and it embeds with no manual export step at all — the formula just references the row's data value and the image updates itself. This page still works well for a printed label or ZIP instead: export a PNG for the row you need and insert it into a cell's comment or a nearby column with Insert → Pictures.
Frequently asked questions
How to generate 128 barcodes in Excel?
Does Excel have a barcode generator?
How do I convert a column of numbers to barcodes?
Are barcode fonts free for commercial use?
Can I put a barcode image directly in a spreadsheet cell?
=IMAGE() function in Google Sheets or Excel 365 (cloud-connected) — it pulls a live image from a URL straight into a cell. Point =IMAGE() at our /api/barcode endpoint and it embeds a barcode with zero manual export step; see /api docs for the exact formula. You can still export a PNG from this page and insert it manually with Insert → Pictures instead, if you'd rather not rely on a live URL.