By linking an Excel file with a PowerPoint presentation file, you can present and display complex data in a much simpler form, so that others can understand it. This is especially useful when you are preparing a business presentation or lesson. What's more, you can create presentation tables easily and modify the data in the tables conveniently without the need to make changes to the presentation.
Step
Part 1 of 2: Opening the File to be Linked
Step 1. Open the Excel file you want to link to the PowerPoint presentation
Select Microsoft Excel from the Start menu to open it. After launching Excel, you can open an existing Excel file or create a new Excel file.
If you choose to create a new document to link to your PowerPoint presentation, you will need to save it as an Excel file before doing so
Step 2. Open the PowerPoint file that you want to link the Excel file to
Launch Microsoft PowerPoint by selecting it on the Start menu. When the program starts, you can open an existing PowerPoint file or create a new one by clicking on the File button in the upper-left corner of the menu bar.
Part 2 of 2: Linking Files
Step 1. Choose where to insert the Excel file
In a PowerPoint presentation, click the text field where you want to insert the Excel file, and then click the Insert tab at the top left of the window to view the Insert toolbar.
Step 2. Click the Object button
This will open a small window called Insert Object.
Step 3. Click the "Create from file" radio button
This way, you can insert an existing file into a PowerPoint presentation, and in this case, you'll insert an Excel document.
Step 4. Select the files to be included
Staying in the Insert Object window, click the Browse button and use Explorer to move to the location of the Excel file to be linked. After finding the file, select the file and click OK.
Step 5. Click the Link option
Back in the Insert Object window, make sure that you have checked the Link option next to the Browse button. This way, any changes made to the Excel file will be immediately displayed in the PowerPoint presentation.
- Click OK to complete the file entry process.
- The data table contained in the Excel file should now appear on the presentation sheet. You can move it to any part of the presentation and adjust its height and width by clicking and dragging the corner points across the presentation sheet.
Step 6. Make sure that the Excel file is successfully connected to the PowerPoint presentation
Return to Microsoft Excel and modify any data in the cells. After changing the data in the cells, return to PowerPoint. The Excel data displayed on the presentation object should also change according to what you changed in the Excel file.
Tips
- You don't need to save the Excel file to view changes to the presentation. The inserted object should also change when the Excel file is modified.
- To link an Excel document to a PowerPoint presentation with an older Microsoft Office program, you must save the Excel file in a format that can be read by older versions of the PowerPoint program.
