Free template
Moving inventory list, and a template that is actually usable
Seven columns, one row per box. Take it as paper, as a spreadsheet, or both. It is free, there is no email to hand over, and it works perfectly well without ever installing anything.
Printable sheet
One landscape page to fill in by hand. Print it or save it as a PDF.
Excel (.xlsx)
Formatted, with the header frozen and filters on. Opens in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets.
CSV
Plain and universal. Import it anywhere, including into an app later.
All three use the same seven columns, so you can start on paper and move to a spreadsheet later without redoing anything. There are free printable box labels to go with them. The downloads come with the five example rows below already filled in; the printable carries one, as a guide.
What a filled-in one looks like
Five real rows from the middle of a move. Note that box 4 was packed in the home office and is going to the spare room, and that box 2 has a note that matters more than its contents.
| Box # | Room (from) | Goes to | Contents | Fragile | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kitchen | Kitchen | Kettle, toaster, 4 mugs, tea, coffee, sugar, teaspoons, tea towels | N | Packed | Open first |
| 2 | Kitchen | Kitchen | Wine glasses x8, champagne flutes x4, two glass serving bowls | Y | Packed | Do not stack anything on this |
| 3 | Main bedroom | Main bedroom | Winter coats, spare blankets, two pillows | N | Loaded | Light, stack this one high |
| 4 | Home office | Spare room | Monitor, monitor stand, HDMI and power cables, keyboard, mouse | Y | Loaded | Photo of the cable layout is on my phone |
| 5 | Garage | Garage | Screwdrivers, spanners, hammer, tape measure, bed frame bolts in a labelled bag | N | Delivered | Open second, the beds need it |
What goes in each column
The whole method is one row per box, filled in as you seal it rather than afterwards. Doing it afterwards is how lists get abandoned.
- Box #
- A plain number, written large on at least two sides of the box and on the top. Numbers beat names: "Kitchen 3" stops helping the moment you have four kitchen boxes and one of them is in the hallway.
- Room (from)
- The room you packed it in. This is what you use while packing, to know which rooms are done.
- Goes to
- The room it should end up in at the new place. This is the column people skip and then regret, because it is the one that tells a removalist where to put the box without asking you.
- Contents
- What is actually in it, specific enough to search later. "Kitchen stuff" is useless in three weeks. "Kettle, toaster, tea towels, two mugs" is what you will actually type when you cannot find the kettle.
- Fragile
- Y or N. Keep it to one character so it stays scannable down the column and so it survives being written in biro.
- Status
- Packed, Loaded, Delivered, Unpacked. Update it twice: once when the box is sealed and once when it lands. Anything more granular gets abandoned by box fifteen.
- Notes
- Anything that is not contents. "Open first", "screws for the bed frame taped inside the lid", "do not stack".
Where a spreadsheet stops working
Worth saying plainly, given who publishes this page: for a studio or a one bedroom flat, the template above is the right answer and you do not need anything else. Thirty rows in a spreadsheet is completely manageable, and a piece of paper on the fridge has never once failed to load.
It gets harder in three specific places, and none of them is about features:
- Entry happens while your hands are full. You have just taped a box shut and you are holding a marker. Opening a laptop, finding the row and typing seven fields is enough friction that most people start saying "I will do it later", and later is when the list dies.
- Searching it on a phone is awkward. Three weeks after the move you want the charger. Finding a spreadsheet in your email, opening it on a phone, and scrolling a wide table is a worse experience than it sounds, and it is exactly when you least want a worse experience.
- Nobody else updates it. Whoever set the spreadsheet up is the only person who touches it. Everyone else packs boxes and tells you what went in them, which means it is out of date by the second day.
If you recognise all three, that is the point where an app earns its keep, and it is the reason BoxLister exists. If you recognise none of them, take the template and ignore the rest of this site. There is a longer, honest comparison of paper, spreadsheet and app if you want to think about it properly first.
Questions about keeping the list
What should a moving inventory list include?
At minimum: a box number, the room it came from, the room it should end up in, and what is inside it in enough detail to search later. Everything else is optional. The two columns people skip are the destination room, which is what saves you directing every box on the day, and specific contents, which is the entire point three weeks later when you cannot find something.
Should I number my boxes or label them by room?
Number them. Room labels stop working as soon as you have several boxes from the same room, and they tell you nothing about what is inside. A number is unique, it is quick to write large on several sides, and it is what your list is keyed on. Write the destination room next to the number if you want the removalist to place it without asking.
Is a spreadsheet good enough for a moving inventory?
For a small move, yes, and this template is a real one you can use. It starts to hurt on a bigger move for two reasons: you are updating it on a laptop while your hands are full of tape, and searching it on a phone mid unpack is awkward. If you are packing more than about thirty boxes, that friction is where most people quietly stop updating the list.
How detailed should the contents column be?
Detailed enough that you would find the item by searching for its name. Write the things you would panic about, not an itemised audit of every object. "Kettle, toaster, mugs, tea" is right. "Kitchen" is useless and "1x stainless steel kettle, 1.7L" is more effort than the situation deserves.
The same seven columns, minus the typing.
Add items to a box on your phone as you pack it, then search any item later and BoxLister tells you the box and the room it is in. Works offline, which is exactly when you need it. Five boxes free, no card and no password.
Try it free, five boxes