FREE TOOL
Warehouse rack label template and generator
This free warehouse rack label template prints a label for every location in your racking: describe it as a pattern, such as aisles 01 to 04, bays 01 to 06 and levels A to D, and you get big location text, a Code 128 barcode, and optional level colours and arrows. Print on Avery-size letter sheets or a thermal printer, in the order you will walk the aisles, and download the same list as CSV for your WMS.
Updated October 12, 2026
How to label warehouse racking
Start from a preset if one fits: pallet rack beam labels, bin and shelf labels, totem signs, multi-level beam strips, or floor and aisle-end placards. Each sets the pattern, label size, arrows and colours, and you can change any of it.
Tick the parts your location codes use: zone, aisle, bay (or section), level and position, and give each a range. 01-20 counts with leading zeros, A-E uses letters, A,C,F is a list.
Choose a separator. Codes such as 01-03-B are easier to read aloud than 0103B; if your WMS stores them without separators, tick “Barcode without separators” and keep the dashes on the printed text only.
Pick the order: bay by bay, or level by level along the aisle. Serpentine aisles and odd-then-even bays follow a pick path, so labels come off the printer in the order you put them up.
Choose the label size, the arrows and whether to colour by level.
Print the test page on plain paper and hold it against a label sheet. Nudge the alignment if needed, then print the run. Download the CSV to load the same locations into your WMS.
Label sizes
| Label | Per sheet | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 x 2-5/8 in (Avery 5160 size) | 30 | Shelf bins and small parts |
| 2 x 4 in (Avery 5163 size) | 10 | Pallet rack beams |
| 3-1/3 x 4 in (Avery 5164 size) | 6 | Labels read from further away |
| 4 x 2 in thermal | 1 per label | Beam labels from a label printer |
| 4 x 6 in thermal | 1 per label | Placards and aisle-end signs |
| Multi-level beam strip, 10 x 1.5 in | 5 per letter sheet | One strip per bay with every level |
| Totem sign, 3-1/2 x 10 in | 2 per letter sheet | One sign per bay, every level stacked, highest on top |
Sheet positions measured from Avery’s own PDF templates for 5160, 5163 and 5164. Avery is a trademark of its owner; the sheets fit any labels made to these templates.
Paper labels from an office or label printer are a quick, cheap start. For freezers or beams that take knocks, rack label makers such as Camcode sell polyester labels under a protective laminate, and printers such as LabelData produce them from your location data file, which the CSV here gives you.
Location codes that work
A good location code is sequential and mixes letters and numbers so long strings stay readable. Infoplus’s example uses single-digit aisles, two-digit bays, letters for levels and two-digit bins, which keeps neighbouring parts from blurring into each other.
| Part | Example range | Example code |
|---|---|---|
| Zone | B | B |
| Aisle | 01-12 | B-07 |
| Bay (section) | 01-20 | B-07-14 |
| Level | A-E | B-07-14-C |
| Position | 1-3 | B-07-14-C-2 |
Use only the parts you need. A small shelving area may need just aisle, bay and level.
Number the levels from the floor up, so level A or 1 is always the lowest. Leading zeros keep codes the same length, which keeps them sorted correctly in spreadsheets and WMS reports.
Arrows and level colours
A beam label sits on the beam, so a reader needs to know whether it marks the location above it or below it. Arrows answer that: LabelData’s sample rack labels point up for an upper level and down for a lower one, and this generator’s default puts a down arrow on the lowest level and up arrows on the rest. When labels for several levels are grouped at eye level, Infoplus describes counting with arrows: one down arrow for the lowest level, one up for the next, two up for the one above.
Colour coding helps pickers find the level from the floor. ASG Services recommends a unique colour per level in a bay, and lays out horizontal multi-level beam labels from left to right with the lowest level on the left, which is how this generator’s beam strips are built. There is no standard colour set; pick one and use it on every aisle.
Barcodes on rack labels
Each label carries a Code 128 barcode of the location code. Code 128 encodes letters, digits and dashes and includes a check character (ISO/IEC 15417). The generator makes each barcode as wide as the label allows and warns if the narrowest bar would fall under 0.19 mm, where many printers and scanners start to struggle. For upper levels out of scanner reach, multi-level labels at a reachable height avoid the need for long-range scanners, as Camcode and Pacific Barcode say of their multi-level and totem labels.
Shelf and bin labels
For shelving, pick the “Bin and shelf labels” preset. It uses the 1 x 2-5/8 in size, 30 per letter sheet, and a pattern of aisle, bay (the shelving unit), shelf level and bin position, so a code reads like 01-03-2-4. No arrows by default, since a shelf label sits right under its bin. Change the ranges to match your shelving and print in walk order.
Common questions
How do you label racks in a warehouse?
Give every location a code built from aisle, bay and level, numbering the levels from the floor up, and put the label on the beam with an arrow toward the location it marks. Print the labels in walk order so they go up in the same order, and load the same codes into your WMS.
How do I make labels for shelves?
Use the 1 x 2-5/8 in size (30 per letter sheet), which suits shelf bins and small parts, and set the pattern to your shelving: aisle, bay and shelf level, plus position if each shelf holds several bins. The bin and shelf preset sets this up for you.
Can I print on a partly used label sheet?
Yes. Set “Skip labels” to the number of labels already used, and printing starts at the next one.
My labels print slightly off the sheet.
Print at 100% or Actual size, never Fit to page. If the test page is still off, measure the gap and enter it under Printer alignment.
Can I import the locations into my WMS or label software?
Download the CSV. It lists every location in print order with the barcode value and each part in its own column, under a header row. Avery’s Design & Print Online imports .csv files for a mail merge (untick the header row when it asks), and label printer software and rack label makers take the same kind of file.
What is a totem label?
A tall sign with every level of one bay on it, stacked with the highest level on top, mounted on the upright where a picker on the floor can scan it. Pacific Barcode sells them as totem or tree labels. Pick the totem preset; arrows count up from the floor by default.
How many labels can I make at once?
Up to 3,000 locations per run. For a larger building, print one zone or a few aisles at a time.
WHERE MORSA FITS
The labels are up. Is the stock arriving?
A labelled warehouse still waits on late purchase orders. Morsa chases suppliers for open POs, warns you before a late one leaves a location empty, and tells receiving where it goes when it lands, in email, Teams, WhatsApp or whatever you already run on.
