How to FedEx Create a Label: 2026 Step-by-Step Guide

Shipping labels are the passports for your packages, guiding them from your doorstep to their final destination. You can FedEx create a label directly on the FedEx website, by using the FedEx Mobile app on your phone, or by visiting a FedEx location in person. Whether you’re sending a one time gift, running an e commerce store, or shipping heavy freight, there’s a straightforward method for you.

This guide walks you through every option, from creating a label on your phone without a printer to managing bulk shipments for your business.

Before committing to any carrier, it’s worth checking what you’ll actually pay. You can compare shipping rates across USPS, UPS, and FedEx in seconds to find the cheapest option for your package.

Getting Started: What You Need to Create a FedEx Label

Before you can get your package on its way, you’ll need a few key pieces of information. Having these ready will make the process smooth and help you avoid unexpected costs.

Package Details: You must have the recipient’s full address, your return address, and the package’s weight and dimensions. Accuracy here is crucial because these factors determine the shipping cost. If you’re unsure how to estimate weight, dimensions, or dimensional weight, see our guide on how to calculate shipping costs.
Payment Method: You’ll need a way to pay for the postage. This can be a credit or debit card if you’re shipping as a guest, or you can link a payment method to a FedEx account.
A Label Solution: You need a way to either print the label or get a digital version (like a QR code) that can be scanned at a FedEx location.
A Supported Device: A modern smartphone, tablet, or computer with a stable internet connection and a PDF reader is all you need to get started on the FedEx website or mobile app.

While FedEx does allow guest shipping for simple one off packages, creating a free FedEx account unlocks features that matter. With an account, you get access to discounted online rates, saved address books, shipment history, and the ability to schedule pickups. You also gain access to FedEx Ship Manager, which is the primary tool for creating and managing labels.

To create an account, go to fedex.com and click “Sign Up or Log In.” The process takes about five minutes. You’ll enter your name, email, and a shipping address, then create a password. FedEx will assign you an account number, which becomes your key to billing options, volume discounts, and advanced shipping features.

Practitioners on Reddit frequently recommend creating an account even for occasional shippers because it gives you better rate visibility and makes voiding or reprinting labels much simpler. One user in an e commerce forum noted that the account number is also required if you ever want a third party to bill shipping charges to you.

If you already have an account, just sign in before starting any label. This ensures the shipment is tied to your account history and any negotiated rates apply automatically.

How to FedEx Create a Label Online Using Ship Manager

Creating your shipping label online is the most popular method for a reason: it’s convenient and often cheaper. Carriers provide significant shipping discounts for online label creation compared to the retail rates you’d pay at the counter. For small businesses, where 43% cite high operating expenses like shipping as a top challenge, these online savings are a major benefit.

Step by Step Walkthrough in FedEx Ship Manager

FedEx Ship Manager is the all in one shipping dashboard for account holders. Here’s how to create a shipping label online through it:

Sign in to your FedEx account at fedex.com and navigate to “Ship” in the top menu. This opens Ship Manager.
Enter the sender and recipient addresses. If you’ve shipped to this address before, Ship Manager will auto suggest it from your address book. Double check ZIP codes, apartment numbers, and suite information.
Enter package details. Select the packaging type (your own box, FedEx Envelope, FedEx Pak, etc.), then enter the weight and dimensions. FedEx uses dimensional weight pricing, so both measurements matter. For tips on keeping that cost down, see how to minimize dimensional weight charges.
Choose your shipping service. FedEx will display available options (FedEx Ground, FedEx Home Delivery, FedEx 2Day, FedEx Standard Overnight, etc.) along with estimated delivery dates and prices.
Select your billing option. This is where you choose who pays. You can bill the shipping charges to your own FedEx account, to the recipient’s account number, or to a third party account. Third party billing is common in B2B scenarios where a customer provides their FedEx account number and wants the charges on their bill. You’ll need the third party’s account number and ZIP code to use this option.
Add special services if needed (signature required, hold at location, declared value, Saturday delivery).
Review and pay. Confirm all details, then click “Ship.” FedEx generates a PDF label you can download and print.

The whole process takes about three to five minutes once you know what you’re doing. Ship Manager also lets you save shipment profiles, so if you regularly send the same type of package to the same destination, you can create future labels in under a minute.

Shipping Without a Commitment: Create a Label as a Guest

What if you don’t ship often and don’t want to create an account? FedEx offers a guest shipping option that lets you FedEx create a label without signing up. With FedEx Guest Shipping, you can create labels for single package shipments just by using your credit card.

This is perfect for infrequent shippers, but there are limitations. Guest shipping typically cannot be used for multi piece shipments or packages containing hazardous materials or alcohol. You also won’t have access to saved addresses or shipment history. For anything beyond the occasional package, creating a free account is the way to go.

Create a Label at a FedEx Office Location

Not everyone wants to handle shipping from a computer. If you prefer an in person experience, or if your package is already with you and you’d rather handle everything at once, any staffed FedEx Office or FedEx Ship Center location can create and print a label for you on the spot.

Walk in with your package, the recipient’s address, and a form of payment. A team member will enter the shipment details, help you choose a service level, and print the label right there. They’ll even package your item for you if needed (for a fee).

There are a few things to keep in mind. Retail counter rates are higher than online rates, sometimes significantly so. According to FedEx’s own rate sheets, the difference between published list rates and online account rates can be 20% or more depending on the service. If cost matters, creating the label online before you go, then dropping the package off, saves real money. Our guide on why counter fees are so high explains the pricing gap in detail.

That said, the in person option is valuable when you have an unusual package, aren’t sure about dimensions, or need help with customs forms for international shipments. FedEx Office staff can also help with packaging materials and printing documents.

You can find your nearest location using the FedEx location finder on their website or in the mobile app.

Don’t Have a Printer? No Problem

One of the biggest hurdles for many people is not having a printer. Luckily, there are several simple workarounds so you can still FedEx create a label and get your package shipped.

Using the Mobile App and a QR Code

The FedEx Mobile app is a powerful tool that lets you manage shipments from your phone. You can enter all your package details in the app, and instead of a printable PDF, it can generate a QR code. Simply take your package to a participating FedEx location, show them the QR code on your phone, and a team member will print the label for you on the spot, free of charge.

This printer free method is becoming incredibly popular. Awareness of “no label” return options, which use QR codes, rose to 48% among consumers in 2025.

Printing Your Label at Home vs. at a FedEx Office

If you do have a printer, printing at home is the most direct option. You can print the label PDF on regular paper, cut it out, and tape it securely to your package. For those outfitting a home shipping setup, our picks for the best shipping label printers cover thermal and inkjet options at every budget. A complete walkthrough is also available in our guide on how to print a shipping label at home.

If you don’t have a printer, you can visit a FedEx Office location. You have a couple of options there:

Log into your email on a self service computer to access and print the label PDF.
Use the FedEx “Print & Go” service by forwarding your label to [email protected]. They will email you a retrieval code to enter at a self service printer in the store.

Keep in mind that printing at a FedEx Office location involves a small fee per page.

Emailing a Shipping Label to Yourself or Someone Else

Most shipping platforms, including FedEx Ship Manager, allow you to email the label after you create it. This is useful in several scenarios:

You created the label at work and want to email it to your personal address to print at home.
You don’t have a printer, so you email the label to a friend or family member who can print it for you.
You are sending a prepaid return label to a customer.

Create a Prepaid Shipping Label

A prepaid shipping label is any label where the postage has already been purchased by the sender. This sounds obvious for standard outbound shipments, but the term is most commonly used in the context of returns. When you create a prepaid label and send it to a customer (or include it in the box), they can return the item without paying anything at drop off.

To create a prepaid return label in FedEx Ship Manager, start a new shipment but reverse the addresses: the customer’s address goes in the “From” field, and your business address goes in the “To” field. Pay for the label with your account, then email the PDF to your customer. They print it, stick it on the box, and drop it off.

FedEx also offers “print return labels” that you can include inside the original outbound package. This is a convenience feature, but it means you pay for the return shipping whether or not the customer uses it.

A positive return experience can significantly influence buying decisions, with nearly 66% of shoppers saying a retailer’s return policy impacts their choice to make a purchase. For more on setting this up, see our guide on how to create a prepaid return label.

Create a Multi Piece Shipment Label

When you need to send multiple packages to the same recipient as part of one shipment, FedEx supports multi piece shipments (sometimes called MPS). This keeps all your packages grouped under a single master tracking number while each box still gets its own individual tracking number.

In FedEx Ship Manager, start by entering the recipient information as usual. When you reach the package details section, look for the option to add additional packages. For each piece, enter its own weight and dimensions. FedEx calculates the rate for the entire shipment together, which can sometimes result in cost savings compared to shipping each box separately.

Multi piece shipments are common for businesses shipping orders that require more than one box (furniture, large equipment, multi item orders). Each package gets its own label, but all labels reference the master tracking number. This makes it easier for both sender and recipient to track the full shipment as a unit.

A few things to know about multi piece shipments:

Guest shipping does not support multi piece shipments. You need a FedEx account.
All packages in the shipment must go to the same destination and use the same service level.
Each box must be individually labeled. If one label falls off, the master tracking number helps FedEx reunite it with the rest.

For high volume sellers who regularly ship multi piece orders, practitioners on YouTube walkthroughs recommend building shipment templates in Ship Manager to avoid re entering package configurations every time.

For Businesses and E commerce Sellers

When your shipping volume grows, efficiency becomes key. FedEx and other platforms offer powerful tools to help businesses streamline how they FedEx create a label.

Streamlining Your Workflow with Bulk Label Creation

For online sellers fulfilling dozens or hundreds of orders, creating labels one by one isn’t practical. Bulk shipping label creation allows you to generate many labels in a single batch. You can typically upload a CSV file with your order data, and the software will process all the labels simultaneously. This drastically reduces manual processing time and minimizes errors. For very high volume shippers, FedEx even offers a service where they will print and deliver batches of labels directly to your distribution center.

To get the best rates across carriers when shipping in bulk, compare rates before committing to a single carrier for all your orders.

Connecting Your E commerce Store for Automated Label Creation

The ultimate time saver is connecting your e commerce store (like Shopify, Etsy, or eBay) directly to shipping software. If you’re building your workflow, learn how shipping APIs connect stores and carriers to automate label creation. This integration automatically imports your order details, so you don’t have to copy and paste addresses. You can view all your orders in one place, apply shipping rules, and print all your labels in one click.

This level of automation can cut fulfillment time by more than half and ensures accuracy by pulling data directly from the source. For a broader look at setting this up, our e commerce shipping guide covers the full workflow from carrier selection to label printing.

Selecting the Right Billing Option for Your Business

The billing flexibility in FedEx Ship Manager matters more than most people realize, especially for businesses. There are three main billing options when you create a label:

Billing Option	Who Pays	Common Use Case
Bill to Sender (your account)	You	Standard outbound shipments
Bill to Recipient	The person receiving the package	Customer requested shipments where they agreed to pay freight
Bill to Third Party	A separate FedEx account holder	B2B orders where the buyer’s company has a FedEx account

Third party billing requires the account number and postal code of the party being billed. This option shows up frequently in wholesale, manufacturing, and corporate procurement. If a client says “use our FedEx account,” this is the feature they’re referring to.

Shipping Large and International Items

The process to FedEx create a label changes slightly when you’re dealing with international destinations or very large shipments. These require specific documentation to ensure they clear customs and are handled correctly. For a step by step overview, see our guide on how to ship internationally.

Creating an International Air Waybill (AWB)

When you ship a package internationally by air, the label you create is also known as an International Air Waybill (AWB). This document serves as a contract between you and the carrier and contains extra information needed for customs, such as a description of the contents and their value. The tracking number on your FedEx International label is the AWB number, which allows the package to be tracked across borders.

FedEx Ship Manager walks you through the additional fields required for international shipments, including commodity descriptions, harmonized codes, and declared values. Getting these right matters. Incorrect customs information is one of the most common causes of delivery exceptions at FedEx.

The Manual Air Waybill

Before digital shipping was the norm, shippers filled out a manual air waybill, which is a multi part carbon copy form. While these paper forms are still available at FedEx locations, online label creation is strongly recommended. Digital labels are more accurate, which significantly decreases the chance of invoice errors or delivery confusion.

Labels for Heavy Shipments: Air Freight and LTL Freight

Air Freight: This service is for shipping large and heavy items via airplane. The air freight shipping label works with an Air Waybill and may be supplemented with special handling labels, like “Heavy” or “This Side Up.” Each piece of the shipment should be clearly labeled to prevent parts from being separated.
LTL Freight: “Less Than Truckload” (LTL freight) is for shipping items on pallets that don’t require a full truck. Instead of a simple label, LTL shipments are governed by a Bill of Lading (BOL), which is the contract between the shipper and the freight carrier. Today, most shippers use an Electronic Bill of Lading (eBOL), which is submitted digitally. This practice reduces errors and can lead to an average cost savings of 2 to 4% per shipment. Each pallet will still get a physical label with a barcode (a PRO number) for tracking.

Frequently Asked Questions about How to FedEx Create a Label

1. Can I FedEx create a label without knowing the exact weight?
No, an accurate weight and dimensions are required to calculate the correct postage and create a valid shipping label. Guessing can lead to adjustments and extra charges from the carrier.

2. How long is a FedEx shipping label valid?
Generally, a FedEx label does not have a strict expiration date, but it is best practice to use it within a short period. If you wait too long, the rates or services associated with the label may have changed, and the carrier could apply billing adjustments.

3. What happens if I make a mistake on a FedEx label?
If you have not yet used the label to ship a package, you can usually void it through your FedEx account or the platform you used to create it. You can then FedEx create a label again with the correct information. FedEx typically processes refunds for voided labels within a few business days.

4. Can I handwrite a FedEx label?
While you can fill out a manual paper Air Waybill at a FedEx location, it is not recommended. Creating a label online is faster, more accurate, and gives you access to better shipping rates.

5. Do I have to pay to create a FedEx label online?
The act of generating the label file itself is free. However, you must pay for the postage or shipping service that the label represents.

6. Can I bill FedEx shipping charges to someone else’s account?
Yes. When creating a label in FedEx Ship Manager, you can select “Bill to Recipient” or “Bill to Third Party” and enter the other party’s FedEx account number and postal code. This is commonly used in B2B transactions.

7. What’s the difference between creating a label as a guest vs. with an account?
Guest shipping is limited to single package domestic shipments paid by credit card. An account gives you access to saved addresses, shipment history, multi piece shipments, third party billing, return labels, and discounted rates.

Whether you’re shipping your first package or your thousandth, the tools are available to make it simple. To make sure you’re always getting the best price before you ship, compare carrier rates with a free online calculator.