How to use the timeline
- Enter your moving date if you know it. Every phase heading then shows the date it stands for, so "4 weeks before" turns into a real deadline on the calendar.
- Open each phase and switch off what does not apply. If you own your home, there is no landlord to give notice to; if you move within the same building, you may not need a van.
- Add the tasks only you know about, such as selling a sofa or finding a new club for a child.
- Choose the pages and the paper, download the PDF and print it at 100 % or actual size.
The list runs in eight phases: 8 weeks before, 6 weeks before, 4 weeks before, 2 weeks before, 1 week before, the last few days, moving day and first week in the new home. It starts with 64 tasks. If your move is less than eight weeks away, work through the earlier phases first, and book what depends on someone else, like movers or time off work, before the jobs you can do yourself.
Packing room by room and labeling boxes
Pack one room at a time and finish it before you start the next. Begin with the rooms you use least, such as the attic or the guest room, and leave the kitchen and the bathroom for the last week.
Give every box a number as you close it and write the same number, the room it goes to and a short list of what is inside on the box inventory. On the box itself, the number and the room are enough. Write them on the top and on two sides, so you can read them when boxes are stacked. Tick Fragile for glass and dishes and Open first for the boxes you will need on the first evening.
On moving day you can tick off each box as it is loaded and again as it arrives, under Arrived, so a missing box shows up straight away. Later, the inventory tells you which box holds the spare charger.
What goes in an essentials box
The essentials box holds what you need on the first night and morning, before the rest is unpacked. Pack it last and keep it with you or load it last, so it comes off the van first. A good start:
- Phone chargers, a power strip and a flashlight
- Toilet paper, hand soap, towels and a change of clothes
- Bedding for the first night
- Daily medicines, glasses and a small first aid kit
- A kettle or pan, a few plates, cups and cutlery, snacks and water
- Basic tools: a screwdriver, scissors, a box cutter and tape
- Cleaning cloths, trash bags and dish soap
Keep passports, contracts, keys, cash and other valuables out of the boxes altogether and carry them yourself.
Keeping the address list
The address changes page sorts the people and places to tell into five groups: money, work and school, health, home and utilities and government and other. A few examples are printed next to each group, and the rows below are blank for your own. To fill it, go through a few months of bank statements and mail: every company that charges you or writes to you belongs on it.
Write a customer or account number next to each name before you start, so you have it to hand on the phone or in an online form. Tick Done and note the date once the change is confirmed. Mail forwarding, where it is offered, is a useful safety net for the ones you forget.
Moving day and the first week
The moving day sheet keeps the facts of the day on one page: phone numbers of the movers and helpers, who received which keys and when, and the meter readings in both homes. Read the meters when you leave and when you arrive, write the numbers down and take a photo of each one, then tick Photo. A dated photo is easy to show if a final bill looks wrong.
In the first week, unpack the essentials box and the kitchen first, then check the boxes and furniture for damage while the move is still fresh. Whether you have to register your new address with a local office or update your ID or vehicle papers depends on where you live. Your local government's website says if it applies to you and by when.
Tools and templates for the move
The moving boxes calculator estimates how many small, medium, large and wardrobe boxes you need room by room, adds packing tape and paper, and prints the result as a checklist. To find out how much floor space a room in the new home has, the square footage calculator works out square feet and square meters for rooms of any shape and can add a waste allowance and a price if you plan new flooring. If you stay elsewhere for a few nights around the move, the packing list generator builds a checklist from the trip length, the weather and who is coming. The printable packing list is a PDF checklist for that bag that you adjust to the kind of trip, and the home inventory template, as a spreadsheet or a PDF, is a place to list your belongings room by room with value, purchase date and serial number before and after the move.
Frequently asked questions
Is the moving checklist free?
Yes. Print it for your own move or for a friend who is moving. There is no signup and no watermark; one small line with our web address sits at the bottom of each page.
Can I change the tasks?
Yes. Open a phase and tap a task to leave it off the printout, and type your own tasks into the field under it, one per line, up to 10 per phase. Your tasks print after the ones already on the list. Every phase also ends with 2 empty lines with a tick box for things you think of later.
What does the moving date do?
Each phase heading then shows its calendar date, for example "by Mar 1, 2027" next to 2 weeks before a move on March 15. Without a date, the headings print a short space to write the date in by hand. The date is written as Mar 15, 2027 when your browser is set to US or Canadian English, and as 15 Mar 2027 for every other language, with the month as a word so it cannot be misread.
How many boxes fit on the box inventory?
On US Letter, one page has 26 numbered rows, two pages have 54 and three have 82. On A4 it is 29, 60 and 91. The numbers run on from page to page, and the last page ends with fields for the number of boxes packed and arrived.
Why are some characters missing from my tasks?
The PDF uses a plain font that covers English and most Western European letters, but no emoji and no other scripts such as Greek, Cyrillic or Chinese. Those characters are left out, a few rare accented letters print without the accent, and a note under the tasks tells you when that happens. The preview shows the text as it will print.
Do I have to print every page?
No. Under Pages to include, tap a page to switch it off, and the page numbers adjust. At least one page stays on. Pick the paper that is in your printer: the page starts on US Letter when your browser is set to US or Canadian English or Canadian French, and on A4 for every other language.