Did you know that you can take a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and add it to a Microsoft Word document or a PowerPoint presentation? You can!
Microsoft Excel is great for organizing and calculating data, but to report and present this information, you need Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.
Today, we’re going to show you the different ways you can copy and paste the Microsoft Excel table over to a Word document and PowerPoint slide so that you can create exceptional reports and presentations in just a few steps.
How to Insert Microsoft Excel Data Into Microsoft Word
We’ll start with Microsoft Word.
The first thing you need to do is open a blank Microsoft Word document and put it beside your Microsoft Excel worksheet as a split-screen. It should look like this:
For this example, we will copy the information from the table and put it into Word.
Select just the table to copy. Once selected, you can copy it through the ctrl + C shortcut or right-click and click copy.
Once copied, go over to Microsoft Word and paste the table using the ctrl + V shortcut or right-clicking and clicking paste.
How to Paste the Table in Different Formats
There are five different formats to choose from when pasting the table into Microsoft Word. To look at the options before choosing one, you can go to Home > Paste > Paste Options and hover over each to see what the table will look like.
Below is an example of where the paste options are and how they will change when you hover your mouse over each option.
Default Paste
This is when the copied table looks identical to the original table.
Paste without Formatting
This option pastes the information in the table without using any of the formatting of the table.
Important: When choosing default or default without formatting, the table in Microsoft Word will not update if you change a value within the table in Excel. You will need to make any updates to the table in Microsoft Excel and then copy and paste the table into Microsoft Word again using one of these two methods.
Paste with Formatted Linked Data
The third option for pasting a table into Microsoft Word is to paste it with linked data. This option maintains the formatting and also links to the Excel spreadsheet data. If you change a value in the Excel table, it will automatically update in the Microsoft Word document.
Paste Unformatted Link Data
Pasting the unformatted link data will remove all of the formattings of the table and paste it in plain text, yet the pasted table will remain linked to the Excel spreadsheet.
Paste as an Image
Pasting as an image takes the copied table and turns it into an image in the Microsoft Word document. Because it’s an image, you can edit the table by rotating it or placing text in front of it if you want.
Using the Paste Special Option
Below, we will show you what it looks like when using the paste special dialog box. This option is just below the paste options that you can hover over when choosing your paste option.
The other option you can use when copying and pasting a table from Microsoft Excel into Microsoft Word is the paste special option.
At the top of the list, you can select to paste the table as a Microsoft Excel Worksheet Object, allowing you to double-click on the table to open the spreadsheet directly in your Microsoft Word document.
This option is nice because it allows you to work directly in the Microsoft Excel worksheet without having to open it as another program on your desktop.
Important: Any changes you make to the table data using this method will not change the original table data. This only changes the data within the Microsoft Word and Excel worksheet document.
Pasting a Graph within Microsoft Word
Using the same methods as above, you can paste a graph into Microsoft Word. You can choose any of the paste options we have mentioned, or you can use the paste special option.
When using the paste special option, you can double-click the graph to open the chart to allow you to make adjustments directly in the document instead of alternating between the Excel worksheet and the Word document.
How to Insert Microsoft Excel Data Into Microsoft PowerPoint
Just like when we were copying and pasting data from Excel to MS Word, we will need to open up a blank Microsoft PowerPoint slide and the MS Excel worksheet.
The process of copying and pasting is very similar. You will need to copy the data from the original Excel file that you want to paste into your PowerPoint presentation.
Once copied, you can paste the data using the same options used above.
One thing to know is that the middle paste option, as seen in the slide below, works the same as the paste special option.
Conclusion
We hope this has helped you understand how to easily copy different pieces of data from your Microsoft Excel worksheet into a Microsoft Word document or PowerPoint presentation. Knowing these tips will make it quick and easy to get a report or presentation prepared directly from your Excel worksheet.
This middle paste option will paste the table or the graph into Microsoft PowerPoint and allows you to double-click the object to open the Excel worksheet directly in your PowerPoint presentation so that you don’t have to keep two applications open at once.
Instead of opening the Excel worksheet in another window, it is embedded directly in the PowerPoint. Again, this is nice for those times when you don’t want to toggle between two documents or two applications.
