How to Set Up Royal Mail Click & Drop for the First Time

Royal Mail Click & Drop is free to use and handles most of what a small UK seller needs — buying postage, printing labels, and tracking parcels — but the first-time setup has a few steps that are easy to get wrong. Here's the order to do them in.

1. Create a business account

Sign up at Royal Mail's Click & Drop portal with your business details and a payment method. A business account (rather than a personal one) unlocks bulk pricing and the ability to add multiple users, which matters once you're not the only person printing labels.

2. Add and configure your printer

Click & Drop can print to any printer your computer recognises, but for it to look right you need a thermal printer set up correctly first — see our printer buying guide if you haven't bought one yet. Once connected, confirm the printer driver's page size is set to 100 × 150mm (4×6"), which is the size Click & Drop generates by default. If you're not sure why this matters, our guide to 4×6 as the standard label size explains it.

3. Set the print method to direct thermal

If your printer supports both direct thermal and thermal transfer, make sure the driver's media type is set to direct thermal (unless you're deliberately using ribbon stock). Getting this wrong is the single most common reason a first label prints completely blank.

4. Print a test label before your first real order

Before committing to a batch, print one test label and check the barcode and QR code aren't cropped, the address block is legible, and the print isn't faded. This takes thirty seconds and saves a wasted label — or a rejected parcel — later.

5. Know where things commonly go wrong

If a label doesn't print as expected on your first few attempts, it's almost always one of a small number of causes: wrong page size, wrong print method, or a driver that needs updating. We've written a full troubleshooting breakdown in our Click & Drop issues guide that covers each of these in detail.

6. Set up returns while you're at it

If you expect any returns volume, it's worth configuring a returns portal at the same time rather than as an afterthought later — see our guide to printing Royal Mail returns labels correctly.