3 Ways to Insert an Excel Spreadsheet into a Word Document

Key Takeaways 

• The most straightforward solution is using Microsoft Word’s Table Insert feature.
• You can also insert a spreadsheet as an object in WOrd.
• While not ideal, you may use specific paste options to ensure a copied Excel table is imported to your Word doc.

Method 1: Using the Insert Table Option

The Insert tab on the Word Ribbon has different options, including an Insert Table button, which can be used to insert an Excel Spreadsheet into Word. This option would launch a blank Excel spreadsheet in which you can make edits. Here’s how to do so:

Step 1: Launch Microsoft Word.

Step 2: Open your desired document.

Step 3: On the Word canvas, place your cursor where you want to insert the spreadsheet.

Step 4: On the Word Ribbon, click the Insert tab.

Step 5: Within the Tables group, click Table.

Step 6: Click Excel spreadsheet to insert a table in Word and launch a blank Excel workbook.

Step 7: In the blank workbook, enter the data you want to see in your Word document.

Step 8: Click Save on the Excel workbook to see your changes in the Word table.

Note that any edits to the spreadsheet will be shown in table form in your Word document.

Method 2: Using the Insert Object Option

If you do not want to insert the data in the Excel spreadsheet into your Word document, an alternative is to embed the spreadsheet as an object into your document. Embedding the Excel spreadsheet into your Word document is like including a shortcut for individuals to access the spreadsheet. Here’s how to do so:

Step 1: Launch Microsoft Word.

Step 2: Open your desired document.

Step 3: On the Word canvas, place your cursor in the location where you want to embed the spreadsheet.

Step 4: On the Word Ribbon, click the Insert tab.

Step 5: Within the Text group, click the Object dropdown.

Step 6: Click Object. This will launch the Object dialog box.

Step 7: Click the Create New tab to create a new spreadsheet or the Create from File tab to open an existing spreadsheet.

Step 8: If you select the Create New tab, scroll through the Object type list and select Microsoft Excel Worksheet.

Note: If you select the Create from File tab, click Browse and scroll through your File Library to select the Excel worksheet you want to embed.

Step 9: Tick the box for Display as icon. This will ensure the Excel data isn’t presented as a table and only an icon of the spreadsheet is shown in your Word document.

Step 10: Lastly, click OK.

Method 3: Using the Insert & Link Option

You can copy and paste the data from an Excel spreadsheet into Word. If you are worried about manually updating the data in Word every time you make changes to the Excel spreadsheet, you can work around this, too. Rather than using the simple paste option when transferring the data, you can use the Link & Use Destination Styles or Link & Keep Source Formatting option.

Step 1: Open the Word document into which you want to insert the spreadsheet.

Step 2: Open the Excel worksheet with the data you want to copy to Word.

Step 3: Select and copy the cells in the Excel worksheet you want to insert into Word.

Step 4: On the Word canvas, place the cursor where you want to insert the data.

Step 5: Right-click the Word canvas and select Link & Use Destination Styles or Link & Keep Source Formatting options.

Step 6: When you change the Excel spreadsheet data, right-click on the transferred table in Word and select Update Link. This will keep the data up to date.