Creating an Excel Workbook from within Word

Carol would like to add a button to her Word ribbon that would open a new blank Excel workbook. She wonders if this is possible without using a macro.

The short answer is that it is, indeed, possible. There are two ways you could approach it, and the one you choose depends on what, exactly, you want to accomplish.

If you want to simply open Excel from within Word, you can follow these steps:

1. Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 or a later version display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
2. At the left side of the screen choose Quick Access Toolbar.
3. Using the Choose Commands From drop-down list, choose All Commands.
4. In the left-hand column, scroll down until you see the option that says Microsoft Excel; select it. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Word Options dialog box.

5. Click the Add button. The Microsoft Excel option is moved to the right-hand column.
6. Click on OK.

Now you can click the Microsoft Excel tool on the Quick Access Toolbar, and the Excel program is started. If, instead, you want the Microsoft Excel tool somewhere in the ribbon itself, you could simply choose Customize Ribbon at step 2. (You cannot do this in Word 2007, as there is no such choice in that version of the program.)

If, instead of opening Excel, you want to insert an Excel worksheet into your current document, you can add the proper tool by following a variation on the foregoing steps:

1. Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 or a later version display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
2. At the left side of the screen choose Quick Access Toolbar.
3. Using the Choose Commands From drop-down list, choose Insert Tab.
4. In the left-hand column, scroll down until you see the option that says Excel Spreadsheet; select it. (See Figure 2.)



Figure 2. The Word Options dialog box.

5. Click the Add button. The Excel Spreadsheet option is moved to the right-hand column.
6. Click on OK.

When you use this tool, Word embeds a blank worksheet at the insertion point and you can then enter information into that worksheet.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6127) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021.