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Lesson 90 of 104 4 min Updated Completed

How to Copy Excel Data Into Word

You can share Excel data with Word (and other Office programs) in two ways: a plain paste, which is a one-time copy, or a paste link, which stays connected to the Excel file and updates when it changes.

Paste

  1. Select the Excel data. Here, B3:E12.

    The range B3:E12 selected in Excel

  2. Copy it (Ctrl + C).

  3. Open the Word document and click where the table should go.

  4. Press Ctrl + V.

    The Excel data pasted into Word as a table

  5. Click the small square handle at the top-left corner of the table to select it all. Now you can add borders or change the formatting.

Note: Drag the same handle to move the table. To delete the table, select it and press Backspace.

With a link, any change to the data in Excel shows up in Word too.

  1. Select B3:E12 in Excel.

    The range B3:E12 selected for linking

  2. Copy it (Ctrl + C).

  3. In Word, click Home > the arrow under Paste > Paste Special.

    Paste Special on Word's Home tab

  4. Choose Paste link, select HTML Format, and click OK.

    Paste link with HTML Format selected

  5. Select the table with its corner handle and add borders.

    The linked table in Word with borders

  6. Now change something in Excel. Here, cell C4 changes to 15.

    Changing C4 to 15 in Excel

Result: the table in Word updates automatically.

The Word table updated with the new value

Note: If Word doesn’t update straight away, right-click the table and click Update Link. Keep the Excel file in the same folder, or the link will break.

To work with Excel formulas inside Word, see Embed an Excel Worksheet in Word.