Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Embedding an Excel Worksheet.

Embedding an Excel Worksheet

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 23, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

Word allows you to embed a worksheet directly from Excel. The link established between your document and the Excel worksheet can be updated whenever you desire. To embed a worksheet in your document, follow these steps:

Open the Excel worksheet.
Select the portion of the worksheet you wish to embed in your Word document.
Press Ctrl+C to copy the selection to the Clipboard.
Switch to the Word document.
Position the insertion pointer where you want the worksheet placed.
Display the Home tab of the ribbon.
Click the down-arrow under the Paste tool in the Clipboard group, then click Paste Special. Word displays the Paste Special dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Paste Special dialog box.

Select the Microsoft Excel Worksheet Object as the preferred method of pasting.
Make sure the Paste Link radio button is selected.
Click on OK. Word inserts the linked spreadsheet in your document.

When you later want to modify the Excel worksheet, simply double-click your mouse on it within your document. You can edit it using tools you are familiar with in Excel, and you can then click your mouse outside of the worksheet (elsewhere in your Word document) to return to regular Word editing. Any changes you make to the embedded spreadsheet are automatically saved in the original Excel spreadsheet.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8518) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Embedding an Excel Worksheet.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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