Inserting Excel Data in a Word Document

So, you've got yourself a spreadsheet and it is fine on its own, but you really want to put it into a Word document. Maybe it's the information about the new budget and a spreadsheet is mandatory, or maybe you want to illustrate the potential cost savings to the company if they choose to take your suggestions. No matter what your reason, you need to move that data from point A (Excel) to point B (Word). There are, of course three different ways to go about this. Some methods are easier than others, but the easy methods do have some limitations, which we will discuss, so take a look at all three before you make a final decision on which one you want to use.

Method 1: Super Easy

This is essentially the "Copy and Paste" method of getting things done, but its simplicity comes at a serious price. If you change the data in your Excel file, the data in your Word document will not change at all. You will have to go back and re-copy and re-paste the information in order to update your document.

1. Open the Word document and the Excel spreadsheet you are going to need for this project.
2. Highlight the information from the Excel file that you want to move into Word. Then copy it. (Either click on "Edit" then "Copy" or right click and select the word "Copy" to do this.)
3. Click on the spot in the Word document where you want to put the information. Then paste the copied information from Excel. (Either click on "Edit" then "Paste", or right click and select the word "Paste" to do this.)

Method 2: Easy

Method two involves creating a link to the Excel file that you want in your Word Document. This gives you the added benefit of self-updating, as the link will reflect changes made to the Excel file. However once you do this, your Excel file must stay where it is. If you move the file, then the link will be broken. In addition, if you send the Word document to someone else, you will need to send the entire Excel file as well, otherwise the link will be broken.

1. Follow steps one and two as above.
2. Place the cursor where you want to put the information.
3. Click on "Edit".
4. Click on "Paste Special".
5. A new window will pop up. Click on the circle next to "Paste Link".
6. Click "OK".

Method 3: Harder (but not really hard at all)

This is true embedding. The advantage to embedding the file is that you can make formatting changes to the table once it is in your document, and you do not have to worry about the base Excel file placement, or even its presence on the receiving computer. On the down side, actually embedding the file will increase your file size by quite a bit.

1. Follow steps 1 through 4 as you would in method 2.
2. A new window will pop up. Click on the circle next to "Paste".
3. From the menu on the right select "Microsoft Excel Worksheet Object".
4. Click "OK".

There: three ends to the same goal. Just remember to choose your method based on the amount of flexibility you need for the Word document and how portable you want the file to be. Now, go impress your friends and co-workers!