How to Plan Delivery Routes with Excel (3 Easy Methods)

Excel is Great for Data—But Can't Plan Routes

If you manage deliveries, service calls, or sales visits, chances are you've got a spreadsheet with all your customer addresses. Excel (or Google Sheets) is perfect for organizing this information—customer names, addresses, phone numbers, delivery windows, and notes.

But here's the problem: Excel can store addresses, but it can't plan routes. You need a way to take those addresses and turn them into an efficient driving sequence. In this guide, we'll show you three ways to do exactly that—from free manual methods to automated route optimization.

Setting Up Your Spreadsheet for Route Planning

Before you can plan routes from Excel, make sure your spreadsheet is properly formatted. Here's what you need:

Required Columns

• Customer/Stop Name - Identifies each delivery
• Full Address - Street, city, state, and ZIP in one column (or separate columns you can combine)

Optional Columns

• Time Window - If deliveries must happen at specific times
• Stop Duration - How long you'll spend at each location
• Phone Number - For contacting customers
• Notes - Special instructions or access codes

Method 1: Google Maps (Manual Entry)

The most basic approach is copying addresses from Excel and pasting them into Google Maps one at a time. It's free and requires no additional tools, but it's also the most time-consuming.

How to Do It

1. Open Google Maps and click "Directions"
2. Enter your starting point
3. Click "Add destination" and paste your first address from Excel
4. Repeat for each stop (up to 10 maximum)

Limitations

• 10 stop maximum - Google Maps only allows 10 destinations total (including start and end)
• No route optimization - Stops appear in the order you enter them, not the most efficient sequence
• Manual copy-paste - You must enter each address individually

Best for: Occasional trips with fewer than 10 stops when you don't mind manually reordering.

Method 2: Google My Maps (Batch Import)

Google My Maps is a separate tool that lets you import addresses from a spreadsheet and view them on a map. It's more powerful than regular Google Maps for visualization, but it still has significant limitations for route planning.

How to Do It

1. Go to Google My Maps and create a new map
2. Click "Import" and upload your Excel or CSV file
3. Select the column containing addresses and the column for marker titles
4. Your addresses appear as pins on the map—but this is where it ends

Limitations

• No route optimization - My Maps can plot points but cannot create driving routes between them
• Manual route drawing - You can draw route lines, but they're not turn-by-turn directions
• Doesn't export to navigation - You can't send a My Maps route to Google Maps for navigation

Best for: Visualizing where your stops are located on a map. Not suitable for actual route planning or navigation.

Method 3: EZRoutePlanner (Automated Optimization)

For delivery professionals who need to plan routes regularly, EZRoutePlanner offers the fastest solution. Copy addresses from Excel, paste them into EZRoutePlanner, and get an optimized route in seconds—no manual reordering required.

How to Do It

1. Open your Excel spreadsheet and copy the addresses column
2. Go to EZRoutePlanner and paste your addresses
3. EZRoutePlanner automatically geocodes each address and places pins on the map
4. Click "Optimize" to rearrange stops into the most efficient sequence
5. Export your optimized route to Google Maps, Apple Maps, or Waze for turn-by-turn navigation

Why This Method Works Best

• No stop limits - Free tier supports up to 30 stops per route
• Automatic optimization - AI calculates the most efficient driving order
• Bulk paste - Add dozens of addresses at once instead of one by one
• Export to any navigation app - Works with Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Waze
• Multiple routes - Create and manage multiple routes for different drivers or days

Best for: Delivery drivers, field service professionals, sales reps, and anyone who regularly plans routes from Excel data.

Comparison: Excel Route Planning Methods

Which Method Should You Use?

Here's a quick guide to choosing the right approach:

• Use Google Maps if you have fewer than 10 stops and don't mind manually ordering them
• Use Google My Maps if you just want to see where your addresses are on a map (not for actual routing)
• Use EZRoutePlanner if you need optimized routes, have more than 10 stops, or plan routes regularly

Conclusion

Excel is excellent for storing and organizing delivery data, but it was never designed to plan routes. To turn your spreadsheet addresses into efficient delivery routes, you need an additional tool—whether that's Google Maps for simple trips or a dedicated route optimizer like EZRoutePlanner for professional use.

If you're spending valuable time manually planning routes every day, try EZRoutePlanner. Paste your Excel addresses, click optimize, and get the most efficient route in seconds. It's free for up to 30 stops—no credit card required.