Christmas Card List Template: Printable and Excel

What goes in each column?

Nine columns: the name as it goes on the card, the address split into street, unit, city, state and ZIP, then the year you sent a card, the year you got one, and notes. Splitting the address keeps the unit number and the ZIP from getting lost.

There is one name column, not one for the envelope and another for the greeting. If a service mails the cards for you, it usually prints the same name in both places, so write it the way you'd greet them.

What does a filled-in list look like?

Like this. Each household is one row, the year goes in Sent and Received rather than a checkmark, and a row with no address stays on the list with a note, so you remember to ask.

The names and addresses are made up.

How do you open the template in Google Sheets, Excel or Numbers?

Use the Excel file in all three. Excel and Numbers open it directly. In Google Sheets, go to File, then Import, then Upload. The Excel file stores ZIP codes as text, which the CSV can't do.

• Google Sheets: File, then Import, then Upload. Choose the .xlsx file and “Insert new sheet(s)” to add it to a spreadsheet you already keep, or “Create new spreadsheet” to start fresh.
• Excel: open the .xlsx file. If you're bringing in a CSV that already has addresses in it, don't double-click it. Go to Data, then From Text/CSV, choose Transform Data, and set the ZIP column to Text. When Excel asks, choose “Replace current”, or the zeros are already gone.
• Numbers: open the .xlsx file; Numbers converts it to its own format.

The CSV is there for anything else: a contacts app, a label printer, a mail-merge tool. In Google Sheets, import it with “Convert text to numbers, dates, and formulas” unticked so the ZIP codes stay as you typed them.

Why do ZIP codes lose their first zero?

Because a spreadsheet reads 02134 as the number 2134. Every ZIP code in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont starts with 0, as do Puerto Rico's, so one bad import can break a whole branch of the family.

A four-digit ZIP code is not a valid address, and a card sent to one can come back. If your list already has them, add a column with =TEXT(F2,"00000") (F being the ZIP column), fill it down, then copy it and paste it back over the ZIP column as values. In our template the first 300 ZIP cells are already set to text, so this only matters for lists you bring from somewhere else.

Can you fill it from your phone's contacts?

Partly. Google Contacts exports a CSV you can open next to the template and copy from. An iPhone exports contacts from iCloud as a vCard (.vcf), not a spreadsheet, so import that file into Google Contacts first, then export the CSV from there.

Expect gaps: most people have a mailing address for only a few of their contacts. For where else to look, and how to ask for the rest, see how to build your Christmas card list and how to fill in the addresses you're missing.

How do you keep the list from one year to the next?

Keep one list and add to it. Each December, write the year in Sent for everyone you mail and in Received for every card that arrives. Next year, sort by Received to see who has gone quiet, and check Notes for anyone who moved.

Writing the year, rather than a checkmark, is what makes the list reusable: a checkmark from last year looks the same as one from this year. When a card arrives with a new return address, update the row that day, while the envelope is in your hand. If you'd rather keep every year, duplicate the sheet each December and name the tab for the year.

Can you mail the cards straight from this list?

Yes. ShipNote prints and mails a postcard to every row. Pick a holiday design, write the message once, then paste your rows or upload the .xlsx or CSV. It reads each name and address from the file, so you don't retype anything.

The column headings and the Sent, Received and Notes columns are skipped; only names and addresses carry over. Every address is checked against USPS records before anything prints, and a row with no address gets a link you can send that person so they type it in themselves. Cards are $1.99 each on 10 or more, postage included, and mailed the next business day; most arrive 4–7 business days after that. For Christmas, order by December 14.

When should you mail Christmas cards?

USPS recommends mailing First-Class cards by December 17 to arrive by Christmas. Mail a few days earlier for anyone across the country, since First-Class Mail takes longer the farther it goes.

Check the days for a specific address with the ZIP-to-ZIP mail time calculator, and see the full guide to sending Christmas cards for addressing and choosing a card.