Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. 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: Embedding an Excel Chart in a Word Document.

Embedding an Excel Chart in a Word Document

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 19, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

1

Most of the time, Microsoft Office applications work fairly well together. For instance, you might be creating a report for a presentation, and you need to include a chart along with the report. Fortunately, you can embed an Excel chart directly within a report you happen to be creating in Word. This is done in the following manner:

  1. Select the Excel chart you wish to embed in your Word document. (Make sure you select the entire chart, and not just a portion of it.)
  2. Press Ctrl+C to copy the chart to the Clipboard.
  3. Switch to the Word document.
  4. Position the insertion pointer where you want the chart placed.
  5. Click the down-arrow under the Paste option in the Clipboard group of the Home tab of the ribbon, then choose Paste Special. The Paste Special dialog box appears. (See Figure 1.)

    6. Figure 1. The Paste Special dialog box in Word.

  6. Select the Microsoft Excel Chart Object option.
  7. Make sure the Paste Link radio button is selected.
  8. Click on OK. Word inserts the linked chart in your document.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10427) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Embedding an Excel Chart in a Word Document.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Inserting Symbols

Using the Character Map to insert symbols in Excel.

Discover More

Understanding Operators

At the heart of working with Excel is the process of creating formulas that calculate results based on information within ...

Discover More

Enforcing Moving Cells Up

When you design your worksheets, you probably want users to interact with those worksheets in specific ways. What ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Locking Callouts to a Graph Location

If you add callouts using the drawing tools in Excel, you may have noticed that they don't always stay where you expect ...

Discover More

Modifying Axis Scale Labels

You want your chart to display information as clearly and succinctly as possible. Modifying the labels used to indicate ...

Discover More

Creating a Chart

Creating a graphic chart based on your worksheet data is easy. This tip provides a couple of different ways you can start ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is eight minus 3?

2020-06-16 03:23:30

Richard Curtis

Does this process rely on the Excel & Word documents remaining in the same respective folders? Our documents, especially those generated using Word, are stored in a document management system not a folder structure. Can a linked Excel chart survive this?

This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.