Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Pasting a Graphic to Multiple Worksheets.

Pasting a Graphic to Multiple Worksheets

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 9, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365


1

Marty has a series of workbooks, some with as many as 50 worksheets. He needs to paste a graphic (a company logo) into the same spot on each worksheet. He tried to do this by selecting all the worksheets and then doing the pasting, but that didn't seem to work on multiple worksheets like regular editing does.

Marty is right; trying to paste a graphic when you have multiple worksheets selected doesn't work. When you try, Excel tells you that it cannot make the paste, but if you then select just a single worksheet you can paste quite nicely.

Instead, you need to use a macro to do the pasting. Assuming that the graphic has already been copied to the Clipboard, you can run a macro such as the following:

Sub InsertLogo1()
    Dim shtSheet As Worksheet

    Application.ScreenUpdating = False
    For Each shtSheet In Worksheets
        With shtSheet
            .Activate
            .Range("A1").Select
            .Paste
        End With
    Next
    Set shtSheet = Nothing
    Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

The macro steps through each worksheet in the workbook and pastes the graphic into cell A1. If you want to use a different cell, then all you need to do is modify the line that selects the cell.

If you don't want to copy the graphic to the Clipboard ahead of time, you can use a macro such as the following to insert the graphic directly from an image file:

Sub InsertLogo2()
    Dim strPath As String
    Dim shtSheet As Worksheet

    strPath = "C:\GraphicFolder\PictureName.bmp"

    For Each shtSheet In Worksheets
        shtSheet.Activate
        Range("A1").Select
        ActiveSheet.Pictures.Insert (strPath)
    Next shtSheet
    Set shtSheet = Nothing
End Sub

You can, of course, modify the path to the graphic file and the cell at which the file is pasted into the worksheets. If desired, you could use the following variation that displays a standard Windows dialog box to select the graphic you want to insert:

Sub InsertLogo3()
    Dim strPath As Variant
    Dim shtSheet As Worksheet
    Dim sTemp As String

    ' Set the file type
    sTemp = "Graphics Files (*.jpg; *.bmp; *.gif; *.tif; *.png)"
    sTemp = sTemp & ", *.jpg; *.bmp; *.gif; *.tif; *.png"
    strPath = Application.GetOpenFilename(sTemp)
    If strPath <> False Then
        For Each shtSheet In Worksheets
            shtSheet.Activate
            Range("A1").Select
            ActiveSheet.Pictures.Insert (strPath)
        Next shtSheet
        Set shtSheet = Nothing
    End If
End Sub

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9205) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Pasting a Graphic to Multiple Worksheets.

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. ...

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What is three less than 3?

2019-04-13 09:06:38

Willy Vanhaelen

No need to activate each sheet and then select cell A1 and paste the picture.

Here is a macro, less than half the size of this tip's first one, that does the job "behind the scenes" and thus faster:

Sub InsertLogo1()
Dim shtSheet As Worksheet
For Each shtSheet In Worksheets
shtSheet.Paste Destination:=shtSheet.Range("A1")
Next
End Sub


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