Cable and wire labels for your label printer

You can print free network cable labels on Brother TZe tape: put the port ID in a few characters, use 12 mm for one line or 24 mm for a second line or a small QR code, and wrap or flag the cable. Tape sizes and other Brother stock are on the Brother label pages. Power cords, speaker wire and the cables behind a TV work the same way, and a 1 inch thermal roll on a Zebra, Rollo or MUNBYN makes good flags too.

TZe tape prints on a Brother P-touch, not on a QL. Check that your own P-touch model has a driver installed on your computer and shows up in the print dialog before you plan a whole closet around it. No P-touch? A 2x1 roll or a Letter sheet of flags does the same job.

Print one cable ID on 12 mm tape

Type a short port name, print one, and wrap or flag a cable you can reach before the full list. No signup.

Open the 12 mm tape →

• Good forPatch cords, switch ports, and the runs in a network closet.
• Label size12 mm TZe tape for one line, 24 mm for two lines, 2x1 for a from-and-to label.
• Prints onA Brother P-touch with its driver installed, a 2x1 roll, or a Letter sheet on a laser printer.

Cable label examples you can open

These are real renders from the editor, one for each kind of cable job. The racks, ports and rooms are made up. Click one and it opens with the same layout, ready for your own list.

1 inch thermal flag from a patch list2 x 1 in thermal roll. CableID, From and To columns. Network port ID flag12 mm TZe tape. Patch panel port and switch port, folded into a flag. Power cord wrap18 mm TZe tape. Which server and which power supply the cord feeds. AV and home theater tagsUS Letter sheet, 12 flags, each name printed twice to fold.

Wrap and flag are different jobs

A wrap goes around the jacket and sticks to itself. You read it by turning the cable.

That works on a patch cord you can spin. It fails on a thin strand, where the words disappear under the overlap.

A flag sticks the tape to itself past the cable, so the words face you like a tiny sign. Flags catch on fingers in a dense bundle. Use them where someone has to read the ID without untwisting the run.

Write the port ID the way you'll search for it

"SW2-A P24" beats "this cable goes to the second switch, port 24, installed in March."

The closet is dim. Use the largest font that still fits the tape. Bold beats a thin face.

White tape with black type is the combination that still works when the jacket is blue or yellow.

Cable labels on a thermal or DYMO printer

No P-touch? A thermal roll printer makes a good flag. Wrap the label around the cable and stick the two halves together, so the ID reads from both sides.

• Zebra, Rollo or MUNBYN: use a roll that is 1 inch tall. 2 x 1 inches fits a cable ID with a from and to line, like the first example. 3 x 1 inches gives a longer tail for a thin patch cord, with the ID printed once on each half.
• DYMO LabelWriter: the 30252 address roll, 3-1/2 x 1-1/8 inches, folds into a flag for a thicker bundle or a power strip. Pick it from the DYMO label sizes.
• Brother QL: a DK roll makes a flag or a tag you cable-tie on, not a tight wrap. More on that below.

To set the size, click the label size in the editor and pick 2" x 1" or 3" x 1" from the list. For any other roll, choose Custom size and type the width and height in inches. Then set the same size in your printer's driver so the label isn't printed in one corner. Zebra and Rollo setup is on Zebra labels and Rollo labels.

12 mm and 24 mm TZe, and where DK fits

12 mm Brother TZe tape is the everyday cable wrap. One line, a port name, maybe a room number if you abbreviate it.

24 mm tape is wide enough for two lines, a from-and-to pair, or a short ID plus a small QR code.

Both are real tape sizes you can open in the editor. Don't invent a third width because a screenshot looked close. If the cartridge says 12 mm, design at 12 mm.

DK stock is a different Brother family. Those are die-cut and continuous rolls for a QL printer, such as an address size, not a laminated TZe wrap you spin around a Cat6 jacket. A QL can't print TZe tape at all.

A DK label can be a flag you cable-tie to a bundle, but it won't hug a single patch cord. If the printer on the bench is a P-touch, stay on TZe. If it's a QL, you're making a tag, not a wrap.

Print free network cable labels on TZe tape

1. Open https://app.mylabelmaker.com with the 12 mm tape. No signup. Set the tape length to the text you actually have.
2. Type the port ID on one line. Add a second line only if you moved up to 24 mm tape.
3. For a flag, leave blank tape at both ends so you can stick it to itself.
4. Print one, wrap or flag a cable you can reach, and read it from the aisle.
5. If you add a QR code, scan it in the closet light before you print the patch list.

A small QR, and text that stays readable

A QR code on 12 mm tape is a gamble. The modules get tiny, and a phone in a rack aisle often can't lock on.

Put the QR on 24 mm tape, keep it square, and leave a white margin around it.

Press the wrap down with a thumb so the edges seal, and don't stretch the tape until the letters skinny out. Heat in a ceiling tray is a different problem: if the run sits over a furnace duct, don't expect a paper label to last.

Print cable labels from an Excel patch list

The useful source is the spreadsheet you already keep: cable number, switch and port, far end. Here is the fictional patch list behind the first example:

1. Open https://app.mylabelmaker.com with the cable label sample. The list above is already loaded.
2. Click Data and upload your Excel or CSV patch list, or paste it. Keep the column names in the first row.
3. Click a text box, then Variables, and pick CableID, From or To for it.
4. Step to the longest From or To value. If it wraps onto a line you don't have room for, fix the abbreviation in the sheet.
5. Open Edit row, tick the cables you're labeling today, and click Print.

Sort the sheet the way you'll stand in front of the rack and print in that order, so a missing number is obvious.

If the ports run in order, you don't have to type every row. Sequential numbered labels fill in SW2-P01 to SW2-P48 with the prefix and the leading zero kept.

No P-touch on the bench? Print the same IDs on a laser printer with an Avery 5160 address sheet, 30 labels a page, and fold each one around the cable as a flag. Or use the Letter sheet of fold-over flags above.

The label doesn't certify the run. It stops the next person from tracing 40 blue cords with a toner because nobody wrote the port down.

You still crimp, dress, and test the cable yourself. Racks, spares and other equipment in the room are covered under inventory labels.