Backing Up Label Layouts

Word includes a good number of label layouts that you can use with various types of labels. You access these by displaying the Envelopes and Labels dialog box. Besides using the built-in label formats, Word also allows you to create your own custom formats. This comes in handy if you have custom labels created for your company. You can save the custom formats so that you can pull them up again and again, as needed. If you create a couple of custom formats, you may want a way to back up the custom formats so you can move them to another machine or as protection against a system crash.

There is no command in Word to export label formats. The definitions themselves are stored in the Registry, and you need to work with the Registry Editor to save the formats. Follow these steps:

1. Start the Registry Editor. (How you do this depends on your version of Windows. If you can display the Run dialog box in Windows, you can normally run the regedit program to start the Registry Editor.)
2. Locate and select the following key. (This example is for Word 2003. If you are using a different version of Word, the numeric portion of this key will differ.)

     HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Word\Custom Labels

3. Choose Export from the File menu. You'll see the Export Registry File dialog box.
4. Specify the file name you want used to save the Registry key.
5. Click Save. The file is saved.
6. Close the Registry Editor.

You can now use the Registry Editor on a different system to import the Registry file you just created, and the custom label formats will then be available on that machine. You should make sure that you transfer the custom label formats only between like versions of Word. If you want to use the formats on a different version of Word, it is easier to simply write down the format specifications and enter them directly into Word on the other system. (Transferring the Registry key between dissimilar versions of Word could cause problems, as Microsoft may have changed the format of this particular Registry key over the years.)

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (142) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Backing Up Label Layouts.