Good box labels say where the box goes, what is in it and which box it is. For a house move that means the destination room, three or four words on the contents and a number, written or printed on the top and on two sides. For storage you add a date. For shipping you strip it back to one address label and any handling warning the parcel needs.
This guide covers what to write on labels for boxes in each of those three jobs, where on the box the label should go, how to colour code rooms with tape, when printed A4 labels beat handwriting, and when a fragile or heavy warning is worth adding. It ends with how many labels and rolls to buy and what they cost. We sell the labels and tape. We do not sell marker pens or pre-printed room labels, so you will need a pen from elsewhere, and we say below where a pen on its own does the job.
In This Guide
- Quick picks for labelling boxes
- What should you write on box labels for a house move?
- Where should you put labels on a box?
- How do you colour code moving boxes with tape?
- Are printed A4 labels better than handwriting on the box?
- When do boxes need fragile and heavy warning labels?
- How should you label boxes for storage?
- How do you label a box for shipping?
- How many box labels and rolls should you buy, and what do they cost?
- Frequently Asked Questions
Quick picks for labelling boxes
These three cover most house moves, storage units and packing benches.
Best for handwritten labels and colour coding
Masking Tape
Crepe paper tape that tears by hand and takes pen and marker, so a strip across the box becomes the label.
- 25mm x 50m in packs of 9 rolls
- 50mm x 50m in packs of 6 rolls
- Tears by hand without a cutter
From £10.00 ex VAT (£12.00 inc VAT)
Choose sizeView product
Best for printed room and contents labels
A4 Sheet Labels
Self-adhesive labels on A4 sheets that run through an office printer.
- 10 layouts, 1 to 65 labels per sheet
- Boxes of 500 sheets
- 4 per sheet labels measure 99.1 x 139.0mm
From £30.00 ex VAT (£36.00 inc VAT)
Choose sizeView product
Best for fragile and heavy boxes
Warning Labels
Self-adhesive warning labels on rolls that you peel off and press on by hand.
- Fragile 89 x 32mm, 1000 per roll
- Caution Heavy 148 x 50mm, 500 per roll
- Sold by the single roll
From £10.00 ex VAT (£12.00 inc VAT)
Choose sizeView productWhat should you write on box labels for a house move?
Write the destination room, a short contents list and a box number on every box. The room tells whoever is carrying the box where to put it down, and the contents tell you whether to open it tonight or next month. With a number you can check that everything arrived and find one box out of forty without opening the other thirty nine.
Use the room in the new home, which may differ from the room the things came out of. If the spare room is becoming an office, write Office. Where two rooms could be confused, add the floor or the person: Bedroom 2 (Sam), Upstairs bathroom.
- Room. The largest writing on the label. It has to be readable from across a room by someone with a box in their arms.
- Contents. Three or four words. Pans and baking trays. Winter coats. Printer and cables. Avoid Misc, because every box ends up being Misc.
- Box number. Number boxes in one run for the whole house, or per room as Kitchen 1 of 8. Keep a list on your phone or a sheet of paper with one line per number if you want more detail than fits on the label.
- Priority. Mark the handful of boxes you need on the first night, such as kettle, bedding, chargers and toiletries, with Open first.
- Handling. Fragile, Heavy or This way up, only on the boxes that need it.
Think about what you advertise. A box marked Jewellery or Laptops tells everyone who handles it what is inside. For valuables, write a number only and keep the contents on your own list.
If you have not bought boxes yet, our moving boxes guide covers sizes, single wall against double wall and how many a typical home needs. For labelling, the part that matters is that heavy things such as books go in small boxes like the 12 x 12 x 12 inch (305 x 305 x 305mm) double wall box, and those are the boxes most likely to need a heavy warning.
Where should you put labels on a box?
Put a label on the top of the box and on two adjoining sides. Boxes get stacked in a van, a hallway or a storage unit, and once another box is on top the top label is hidden. A label on one long side and one short side means at least one stays visible whichever way round the box is pushed against a wall.
- Build and tape the box first. A label stuck across the centre seam before the box is sealed will be covered or split by the tape.
- Place the side labels in the upper half of each side, near a top corner. Labels low down disappear behind the box in front.
- Put every label in the same position on every box. When a stack is all labelled top left, you can read down the column quickly.
- Keep labels clear of the seams and edges, where tape runs and where cardboard flexes and lifts the label.
- Press each label down from the centre outwards so the edges are fully stuck. Dust on reused boxes stops labels holding, so wipe the spot with a dry cloth first.
- Write or stick the label so it reads the right way up when the box is the right way up, which also tells people which side is the top.
On a box you are reusing, remove or cross through every old label, barcode and room name before adding your own. Two room names on one box leaves the carrier guessing.
Do you need a label at all? For a small move, writing straight on the cardboard with a thick marker costs nothing and works. Labels and tape strips are worth the extra step when boxes will be reused, when the cardboard is dark or printed, or when several people need to read the same system.
How do you colour code moving boxes with tape?
Give each room one colour, put a strip of that colour on the top and two sides of every box for that room, and put the same colour on the door of the room in the new home. Movers then match colour to door without reading anything, which helps most when friends, family or a removals crew who have never seen the house are carrying.
We do not sell sets of coloured tape or pre-printed room labels, so the colour has to come from a pen or a printer. What we do stock is masking tape, a crepe paper tape that tears by hand and takes pen and marker. It comes as 25mm x 50m in packs of 9 rolls or 50mm x 50m in packs of 6 rolls, from £10.00 ex VAT (£12.00 inc VAT) per pack. There are two ways to colour code with it:
- Coloured markers on masking tape. Run a strip of 50mm masking tape across the top of the box and down one side, then write the room name in that room's marker colour. You might use blue pen for the kitchen, red for the main bedroom and green for the living room. The tape gives you a clean pale surface to write on, even on a printed or reused box.
- Colour blocks printed on labels. If you have a colour printer, print a solid band of colour above the room name on an A4 sheet label. This is the neater option and every label matches.
The 50mm width is the one to use on cartons because the writing can be large. The 25mm width suits shelves, files and small boxes. Keep masking tape for labelling and light bundling. To seal a moving box, use brown packing tape or clear packing tape on the seams, and see our guide to moving tape and how much you need for the quantities.
| Room | Example colour | What goes on the box |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen | Blue | KITCHEN, contents, box number |
| Living room | Green | LIVING ROOM, contents, box number |
| Main bedroom | Red | BEDROOM 1, contents, box number |
| Second bedroom | Orange | BEDROOM 2 plus the person's name |
| Bathroom | Purple | BATHROOM, contents, box number |
| Loft, garage or storage | Black | STORE, contents, date packed |
Are printed A4 labels better than handwriting on the box?
Printed labels are better when you have more than about twenty boxes, when other people have to read them, or when the boxes are going into storage for months. Handwriting is better when you have a few boxes and a pen in your hand already. Printing costs you time on packing day, and in return the labels are easier to read later.
Our A4 sheet labels are self-adhesive labels on standard A4 sheets for an office printer. There are 10 layouts and each box holds 500 sheets, from £30.00 ex VAT (£36.00 inc VAT) per box. For box labels the larger layouts are the useful ones:
| Layout | Label size | Labels per box of 500 sheets | Use on boxes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 per sheet | 199.6 x 289.1mm | 500 | Full contents list or inventory sheet on a large storage box |
| 2 per sheet | 199.6 x 143.5mm | 1,000 | Large room labels readable from across a room |
| 4 per sheet | 99.1 x 139.0mm | 2,000 | Room, contents and box number on a moving box |
| 8 per sheet | 99.1 x 67.7mm | 4,000 | Room name and number only, or a delivery address |
The 4 per sheet layout is the one we would pick for a house move. At 99.1 x 139.0mm it has room for a room name in large type, two lines of contents and a number, and one sheet labels one box with a spare. Our guide to A4 label sheet sizes and layouts goes through every layout and the printer settings that stop print drifting off the label.
Check the quantity before you buy. A box of 500 sheets is far more than one house move uses. It makes sense for a removals firm, an office move, a business that also prints address labels, or a household that will share a box. For a single small move, masking tape and a marker cost less and do the job.
We do not sell label printers. If you already own a direct thermal printer for posting parcels, thermal labels on rolls work for box labels too, since they print with heat and need no ink, toner or ribbon. The 4 x 6 inch (100 x 150mm) roll holds 500 labels and the 4 x 4 inch (101.6 x 101.6mm) roll holds 750. Thermal print is black only, so colour coding would still need tape or a pen.
When do boxes need fragile and heavy warning labels?
Add a fragile label to boxes holding things that break, and a heavy label to any box that would surprise the person lifting it. Use them sparingly. If every box in the van says fragile, the word stops meaning anything and the boxes with the glasses in get the same treatment as the boxes of towels.
A warning label only asks handlers to take care. It does nothing to protect what is inside, so the wrapping still has to do the work. Our post on fragile tape and fragile stickers looks at how much difference the warning makes and what to pair it with, and the guide to bubble wrap for moving house covers how much wrap each room takes.
We stock two warning labels on rolls, from £10.00 ex VAT (£12.00 inc VAT) per roll:
- Fragile, 89 x 32mm, 1000 per roll. For glass, ceramics, electronics and anything else that breaks. The small size fits the side panels of cartons as well as small boxes and mailing bags.
- Caution Heavy, 148 x 50mm, 500 per roll. For heavy boxes and pallets. The larger label warns handlers about the weight before they lift.
Put a fragile label on the top of the box and on at least one side, so it can be seen however the box is stacked. Put a heavy label on the side people will face when they bend to pick the box up, and on the top as well. We will not give you a weight at which a box counts as heavy, because it depends on who is lifting. A fair test is whether you would want a warning before picking it up yourself.
The other option is fragile tape, a printed packing tape with the word FRAGILE running along its whole length. It seals the box and labels it in one pass, so you can skip a separate sticker. It comes as 48mm x 66m rolls of 42 micron acrylic polypropylene, or as BigTape 48mm x 150m low noise at 43 micron, both in packs of 6 rolls, from £5.50 ex VAT (£6.60 inc VAT) per pack. Run it across the top seam and down the sides where the box gets picked up.
Best for sealing and warning in one pass
Fragile Tape
Printed packing tape that carries the FRAGILE warning along every sealed seam.
- 48mm x 66m, 42 micron, pack of 6 rolls
- BigTape 48mm x 150m low noise, 43 micron, pack of 6 rolls
- 48mm width for everyday boxes
From £5.50 ex VAT (£6.60 inc VAT)
Choose sizeView productHow should you label boxes for storage?
Label storage boxes on the face that points outwards on the shelf, with a category, a fuller contents list than you would write for a move, and the date the box was packed. A moving label only has to last a day or two. A storage label has to make sense to you, or to someone else, a year from now.
- Label the front, then one more side. Decide how the box will sit on the shelf or in the stack before you label it. The short end usually faces out. Add a second label on an adjoining side in case the box gets turned.
- Write a category and a list. Christmas decorations: tree lights, baubles, wreath. Tax records 2024 to 2025. The category goes in large type and the list underneath.
- Add the date packed. For paperwork, add a review or destroy date as well, so nobody has to open the box to decide whether the contents can go.
- Number the boxes and keep an index. A numbered list on paper or in a spreadsheet, with a line per box and where it sits, is faster to search than a wall of cardboard.
- Put a copy of the list inside. Labels can lift in a damp garage or loft. A sheet inside the lid means the contents are still recorded if the outside label is lost.
Printed labels suit storage better than handwriting because marker fades and tape strips can dry out over a long stay. The 1 per sheet A4 label, at 199.6 x 289.1mm, takes a full typed inventory on the end of a large box. The 4 per sheet label does the job on archive sized boxes. Businesses that prefer the paperwork on the outside can use documents enclosed wallets, clear self-adhesive pouches in A5, A6 and A7 that hold a printed contents sheet you can swap when the contents change.
For which boxes to choose, how to pack them and how to stack them so they last on the shelf, see our guide to cardboard storage boxes. The full range of sheet and roll labels is in our labels collection.
How do you label a box for shipping?
A box going by post or courier needs one address label, flat on the largest face, with nothing else on the box that could be mistaken for it. Room names, box numbers and colour strips are for you. A courier's scanner and driver need a single clear label and a barcode they can read.
- Remove or completely cover every old address label and barcode on a reused box.
- Stick the new label on the largest flat face, usually the top, well away from the edges.
- Keep the label off the seams. A label that bridges the centre join will crease or tear when the flaps flex.
- Do not run tape across a barcode unless the carrier's own guidance says it is fine. Shiny tape and wrinkles can stop a scanner reading it.
- Add a return address, either on the label or as a smaller label on another face.
- Add a fragile or heavy label on the top and one side if the contents call for it.
- Put a second copy of the address inside the box, in case the outer label is damaged in transit.
For the label itself, sellers with a direct thermal printer use the 4 x 6 inch (100 x 150mm) thermal label roll, the usual courier label size, with 500 labels per roll. Thermal rolls start from £3.50 ex VAT (£4.20 inc VAT). With an ordinary office printer, the 2 per sheet or 4 per sheet A4 labels do the same job. Our guide to choosing between rolls, fanfold and A4 sheets compares the three by printer and volume. Label and weight rules differ between carriers and change over time, so check your carrier's current guidance before you send.
How many box labels and rolls should you buy, and what do they cost?
Count your boxes, multiply by three labels each, and buy the smallest pack that covers it. For most house moves that is one pack of masking tape and, if you have breakables, one roll of fragile labels or one pack of fragile tape. Printed A4 labels only pay for themselves at higher volumes or where you will use the rest of the box for other jobs.
| Product | Pack | From, ex VAT | From, inc VAT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masking tape | 9 rolls of 25mm x 50m, or 6 rolls of 50mm x 50m | £10.00 | £12.00 |
| Warning labels | Roll of 1000 Fragile, or roll of 500 Caution Heavy | £10.00 | £12.00 |
| Fragile tape | 6 rolls of 48mm x 66m, or 6 rolls of 48mm x 150m | £5.50 | £6.60 |
| A4 sheet labels | Box of 500 sheets, any of 10 layouts | £30.00 | £36.00 |
| Thermal labels on rolls | Single roll, 200 to 1000 labels by size | £3.50 | £4.20 |
A pack of six 50mm x 50m masking tape rolls is 300 metres of tape, and a box labelled with three strips of about 30cm uses under a metre, so one pack is far more than a house move needs. A roll of 1000 fragile labels at two per box covers 500 boxes. A box of 4 per sheet A4 labels is 2,000 labels, or around 660 boxes at three labels each. On those numbers, tape is the sensible buy for a single household, and printed labels suit removals firms, offices and sellers. Sizes differ in price, many products have volume pricing, and the tiers are on each product page.
Royal Mail Tracked 48 delivery is free on every order with no minimum, and orders placed by 2pm Monday to Friday leave our Manchester unit the same working day. Click and collect from Cheetham Hill is free and usually ready within 2 hours, and we run same-day van delivery within 10 miles. Boxes and tape for the rest of the move are in our cardboard boxes and packing tapes collections.
Removals firms, storage operators and warehouses that buy labels and tape every month can apply for a trade account. A VAT invoice comes with every order. If you are not sure which label or tape suits your boxes, call 0161 706 1246 or use the contact page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to label moving boxes?
The best way to label moving boxes is to put the destination room, a short contents list and a box number on the top and two sides of each box. Add a colour for each room with a marker on masking tape, and put the same colour on the door of that room in the new home. Mark only the boxes that need it as fragile, heavy or open first.
Where should a label go on a box?
For a move or storage, a box label should go on the top and on two adjoining sides, in the upper half and away from the seams, so one label stays visible when boxes are stacked. For shipping, the address label should go flat on the largest face of the box, clear of edges and tape, with all old labels and barcodes removed or covered.
Can you write on masking tape to label boxes?
Yes, you can write on masking tape. Masking tape is a crepe paper tape that takes pen and marker and tears by hand, so a strip across a box works as a label. We stock masking tape as 25mm x 50m in packs of 9 rolls and 50mm x 50m in packs of 6 rolls. Masking tape is for labelling, so seal the box itself with packing tape.
What size A4 labels are best for box labels?
The 4 per sheet A4 label, at 99.1 x 139.0mm, is the best all-round size for box labels because it fits a room name, a contents list and a box number. The 2 per sheet label at 199.6 x 143.5mm suits large room labels, and the 1 per sheet label at 199.6 x 289.1mm takes a full inventory for a storage box. Each box of A4 sheet labels holds 500 sheets.
Do fragile labels make movers or couriers handle boxes more carefully?
Fragile labels ask handlers to take care, but fragile labels do not protect the contents and nobody can promise how a box will be treated. Wrap breakable items properly first, then add a fragile label on the top and at least one side. Keep fragile labels for the boxes that need them so the warning still stands out.
Does Pack Solution sell marker pens or pre-printed room labels for moving?
No, Pack Solution does not sell marker pens, coloured tape sets or pre-printed room labels. Pack Solution stocks blank A4 sheet labels, thermal labels on rolls, Fragile and Caution Heavy warning labels, masking tape and fragile tape. You can print your own room labels on A4 sheet labels or write the room on masking tape with a marker bought elsewhere.
