How to Create Barcodes in Google Sheets

Barcodes are a vital part of running any successful business that deals with inventory. While it's great to have barcodes on the physical products, you'll often need to have them on a spreadsheet for stock take or receivables. Read on to learn how to make barcodes in Google Sheets.

Barcodes are a vital part of running any successful business that deals with inventory. While it's great to have barcodes on the physical products, you'll often need to have them on a spreadsheet for stock take or receivables. Read on to learn how to make barcodes in Google Sheets.

How Do Barcodes Work?

A barcode is a rectangle or a square containing vertical lines of various widths and heights, white space, and numbers that collectively identify certain items and their pertinent information.

These codes may be read by computers connected to scanners, which then employ the precise placement of the bars, spaces, and numbers to extract the relevant product information.

What Are Some Advantages of Barcodes?

  • Barcodes make it considerably quicker and simpler to check products at a store and keep track of inventory by encoding information into alphanumeric letters and bars.
  • Barcodes' main commercial advantages are accuracy, inventory control, cost savings, simplicity, and speed.
  • The only equipment required for a business to start barcoding is a printer, scanner, and some simple inventory management software. You could also use smartphones with the right barcode scanner apps installed.

How to Set Up Barcodes in Google Sheets

Although Sheets is one of the best Google programs for businesses, it's not capable of generating barcodes right out of the box. We must add the required barcode fonts into Google Sheets to add the functionality. These fonts are:

  • Libre Barcode 39: This font generates barcodes using Code 39 and is commonly used in labels such as badges, applications, and inventory.
  • Libre Barcode 128: This font is used to generate barcodes using Code 128 and is used in the shipping and packaging industry.
  • Libre Barcode EAN13: This font is used to generate EAN barcodes and is usually used for retail packaging.

Installing these barcodes in Google Sheets is extremely easy. Follow these steps to do so:

  • On the main spreadsheet page, click on the Font selector option. This will open a dropdown menu with a list of fonts.
  • Click on More fonts at the top. A new window will open in the center of the screen.
  • Enter Libre Barcode in the text box towards the top left of the window and click on the search icon.
  • A total of six fonts will show up in the results. Make sure to select all of them. The fonts include 39, 39 Text, 128, 39 Extended Text, 39 Extended, and EAN13 Text.
  • Once they are all selected, click on the blue OK button.

    • How to Make Barcodes in Google Sheets

    Now that you have the barcode fonts downloaded, all we have to do to create a barcode is to apply the font to the product ID. Let's take a look at how you can do this.

    Here are the steps you need to follow to create an EAN13 and Code 128 barcode:

  • Enter the ID for the barcode you wish to create into an empty cell.
  • Instead of typing in the same number in the barcode column, you can use the suggested autofill feature in Google Sheets to fill in the code. To do this, write an equal (=) sign and the cell address containing the barcode ID. The data from the ID cell will be copied over to this one. B2 in the example below.
  • Click away, then select the cell containing the barcode again.
  • Click on Font in the main bar now and select Libre Barcode 128 or Libre Barcode EAN13 Text.

    • The font will now be applied to the ID, and a barcode will be created. Using a formula to fill in the barcode column means you only have to enter the ID once, and the barcodes will generate automatically.

    Generating a Code 39 Barcode in Google Sheets

    Generating a Code 39 barcode is slightly different and can also use text instead of only numbers as their code. As a result, Google Sheets requires you to add an asterisk symbol before and after the ID, along with an & symbol to concatenate the data.

    The formula would look something like this:

    ="*"&A1&"*"

    Let's take a look at how you can do this:

  • Enter the ID for the barcode you wish to create, like in Column A in our above example.
  • We will use a formula to add the asterisks and the ID in the barcode column. To do this, write an Equal (=) sign first.
  • Now type in an Asterisk (*) symbol inside Quotation marks (").
  • Add an Ampersand (&) symbol.
  • Now, type the cell address containing the barcode ID. A1 in our example.
  • Type another Ampersand (&) symbol, and then type an Asterisk (*) inside Quotation marks (").
  • Press Enter

    • Similar to before, the data from the ID cell will be copied over to this one. Select the cell containing the barcode and click on Font in the main top bar. Select Libre Barcode 39, Libre Barcode 39 Text, Libre Barcode 39 Extended Text, or Libre Barcode 39 Extended, depending on your needs.

    How to Print Barcodes From Google Sheets

    Many people reading this article may wish to create barcodes for products or labels. This means that eventually, you will need to print out the barcodes. Thankfully, it is extremely easy to do so on Google Sheets. Here are the steps you need to follow to do so:

  • First, you must format the spreadsheet to fit the page you're printing optimally. You can easily do this using the formatting options in Google Sheets, or by simply clicking and dragging the row and column headers.
  • Once done, click on File in the top-left corner of the screen.
  • In the dropdown menu, click on Print. You can also do this using the Ctrl + P shortcut.
  • A new window will open where you can select the page type, scale, and margins.
  • Once you're done selecting those options, click on the blue NEXT button in the top-right corner.
  • This will open the print window for your browser. You can print the spreadsheet directly or save it as a PDF.

    • Essential Facts Regarding Barcodes in Google Sheets

    Here are some of the things you should keep in mind when generating barcodes using Google Sheets:

    • When generating barcodes with Code 39, you must put an asterisk symbol before and after the ID for the barcode.
    • Although there are different formats for the Code 39 font, there is only a single font type for Code 128 and EAN 13 barcodes.
    • You can print these barcodes from your screen or even print them for use in the real world.
    • The Libre Barcode fonts are available on all Google services, including Google Sheets, Google Docs, and Google Slides.

    Using Barcodes Effectively With Google Sheets

    Now that you know how to make barcodes in Google Sheets. To get the best use out of them, you should make sure the rest of your business processes have the codes in their system, and you have reliable hardware or apps.

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