Link or Embed an Excel Worksheet in a Word Document

 

Linking or embedding an Excel worksheet into a Word is actually pretty straightforward, and the process for doing either is almost identical. Start by opening both the Excel worksheet and the Word document you want to edit at the same time.

In Excel, select the cells you want to link or embed. If you would like to link or embed the entire worksheet, click on the box at the juncture of the rows and columns in the top left-hand corner to select the whole sheet.

Copy those cells by pressing CTRL+C in Windows or Command+C in macOS. You can also right-click any selected cell, and then choose the “Copy” option on the context menu.

Now, switch to your Word document and click to place the insertion point where you would like the linked or embedded material to go. On Home tab of the Ribbon, click the down arrow beneath the “Paste” button, and then choose the “Paste Special” command from the dropdown menu.

This opens the Paste Special window. And it’s here where you’ll find the only functional different in the processes of linking or embedding a file.

If you want to embed your spreadsheet, choose the “Paste” option over on the left. If you want to link your spreadsheet, choose the “Paste Link” option instead. Seriously, that’s it. This process is otherwise identical.

Whichever option you choose, you’ll next select the “Microsoft Excel Worksheet Object” in the box to the right, and then click the “OK” button.

And you’ll see your Excel sheet (or the cells you selected) in your Word document.

If you linked the Excel data, you can’t edit it directly in Word, but you can double-click anywhere on it to open the original spreadsheet file. And any updates you make to that original spreadsheet are then reflected in your Word document.

If you embedded the Excel data, you can edit it directly in Word. Double-click anywhere in the spreadsheet and you’ll stay in the same Word window, but the Word Ribbon gets replaced by the Excel Ribbon and you can access all the Excel functionality. It’s kind of cool.

And when you want to stop editing the spreadsheet and go back to your Word controls, just click anywhere outside the spreadsheet.

Note: If you working on a Word document and want to include a spreadsheet that you haven’t created yet, you can. You can actually insert an Excel Spreadsheet right from the Table dropdown menu on the Ribbon.