How to Link Excel to PowerPoint and Update Anytime

The Excel-to-Word Document Automation add-in makes it easy to update content in Word and PowerPoint documents based on analysis data and charts in Excel workbooks. In this video, you will learn how to map or link content between Excel and PowerPoint. You link content once, then update your PowerPoint presentations multiple times with ease.

There are four primary types of content that can be updated using the add-in: text, charts, tables, and shapes or images. The add-in can update text, titles, paragraphs, or bullet point lists in PowerPoint from cells in Excel. Charts can be updated in PowerPoint in two ways: one, based on an image of a chart in Excel, or two, based on data in an Excel range or table. Tables in PowerPoint can be updated from named ranges or tables in Excel. Tables can be linked in three ways: one, as a destination formatted table, which you format in PowerPoint to look any way you want since only the content will be updated; two, Excel formatted tables or flex tables, which will be styled based on how you created them in Excel; or three, as images of the Excel range. Shapes and Images. Any Excel shape, picture, or image like this dashboard can also be transferred to PowerPoint as part of an update.

I will demonstrate how the add-in updates content after it is linked. I will make changes in Excel and then update in PowerPoint. I will change some text and some data in these two ranges which will also change this chart in these two shapes. Then in the Excel add-in on the submit tab, I will click ‘Submit Content.’ Over in PowerPoint on the update tab, I will click ‘Update Document.’ Our secure Azure cloud service will then modify and open a new updated PowerPoint document. We can see that it contains the changes that were submitted from Excel.

The Excel-to-Word Document Automation add-in enables you to update content in any new or existing PowerPoint presentation. It uses reliable portable links that will not break even if you change file names, reorganize content, make file copies, or share the files. It is used successfully in a wide variety of use cases from proposal generation to updating of monthly financial reports. The add-in improves productivity and document quality by reducing copy paste errors, and it minimizes costs by avoiding expensive document automation applications. Plus, you can easily install the add-in directly from your Microsoft application and it is Microsoft 365 certified.

In summary, here are the steps to link content in Excel. Step one, name your Excel content in Excel. Name the items, range names, tables, charts, and shapes that you want to link in PowerPoint. The name must start with the item name prefix, such as R underscore. This acts as a filter. Step two, click submit content. Only items with names starting with the prefix will be transferred to PowerPoint. In PowerPoint, on the link tab of the add-in, click get Excel content. For each of the items to link, follow these steps. Step one, select the Excel item you want to link. Step two, select the shape in PowerPoint that you want to link. Then step three, click add update link to link the shape to the Excel item. Next, I will demonstrate how to set up the links in Excel and PowerPoint.

Let’s get started with setting up our links in Excel. Here are the Excel and PowerPoint documents that I will be using. If you have not already installed the add-in, it is easy to do from the add-ins icon. Search for Excel-to-Word or Analysisplace. We will open the add-in in Excel by clicking on the icon. It will open in the right side panel. I will also open up the add-in in the PowerPoint document. If you need help installing the add-in, please see our getting started guide.

It is important to understand that all items need to start with an item name prefix. The default prefix is R underscore. Let’s start off by naming a text cell. I will select this cell and go to the name box and name it r_client name. Another way to name content is to select the cell and go to the list tab of the add-in. I will open up ranges and here I will name this range r_bullet points. This how to name content section contains instructions and tools to help with naming content. Destination tables are formatted in PowerPoint. Here is how they are linked. I will name this range, which will be the source of a table in PowerPoint. I will select the range and then in the name box, I will name it r_financials. Next, I will name this range, which I will link to a chart in PowerPoint. I will select the data in the range and name it r_piechartdata. PowerPoint tables can also be based on an Excel table, also called a data table.

To name an Excel table, select the table, choose table design from the ribbon, then name it in the table name box. Tables can also be updated as flex tables, which keeps their Excel styling. First, I will name the range r_incomestatement. It does not become a flex table until I format it as one. In the list tab of the add-in under manage linkable content, I will list manage items. Then I will select the table and under manage item properties and format control, I will change the selected item to flex. Now when I update in PowerPoint, it will keep its Excel formatting. You can also make other adjustments to how your flex table will look here. You can adjust things like margins, column widths, borders, colors, and font size. This dashboard can also be updated in PowerPoint. We will link it as an image of the range. First, I will select the range and name it r_dashboard. Then, we need to change its properties to send it as an image. On the list tab of the add-in, go to manage linkable content. Select the r_dashboard and in the manage item properties table below under formatting control I will switch the selected item to image.

Next, I will name the two other images. This ribbon will be named r_ribbon and this image will be RC image. Next, I will name a chart. Charts can be linked to their image or the range they were created with. I will select the chart, then name it in the name box. I will name this chart r_revenue. This chart was created with the data in this range. I will demonstrate how to link this chart to both its image, which is quicker, or its Excel data, which reduces the file and transfer size and has better resolution over in PowerPoint.

Now I can verify if I have properly named all the items I want to link. On the list tab of the add-in, I will go to manage linkable content and list manage items. Here I can see that under linkable content, my text, ranges, and images have all been named starting with the prefix r underscore. You can select individual items and edit their properties here. For example, you can switch between destination formatted, flex formatted, or image-based tables. Note, you can also use Excel’s name manager to manage named ranges and tables.

To submit the named Excel content to PowerPoint, I will go to the submit tab and click submit content. The message says that all nine items have been submitted. When I submit, the content becomes accessible in PowerPoint. Keep in mind that each new submit will overwrite the previous one, ensuring that the most recent content is available in PowerPoint.

Let’s switch over to PowerPoint. In my PowerPoint presentation, I will go to the link tab of the add-in and click get Excel content. I can see that nine items have been imported from Excel. The items are listed in the drop-down list. Select the Excel source item that you want to link. Then select an existing shape, create a shape, or paste a shape from Excel. The PowerPoint shape type must match the item type it will be linked with.

For text items, the PowerPoint shape can be a title, text box, word art, or any shape that contains text. Excel table items can be linked to a PowerPoint table or chart. Add or select a table or chart that is appropriate for the Excel source table range. For image items, you can link an existing image or the add-in can insert the image if you deselect shapes by clicking an empty space on the slide. Link the shape to the Excel item by clicking add update link. I will start by creating my text links. I will need to insert or select a text based shape. I will select text as the type from the drop down menu and choose client name as the item to update. I am going to add a text box where I want the client name to appear and I will add some text to hold it. In PowerPoint all the text in the shape you link will be updated. Then click on ‘add update link.’ I can see here that it was successfully linked for the bullet points text. I will select the appropriate link and then select this content placeholder that I previously created for bullet points. You can see when I select the shape the border becomes solid. Then I will ‘add update link.’

Next, I will update some destination tables that will keep their appearance set in PowerPoint and only update their content. There are two ways you can update destination tables. The first is updating a table copied from Excel. I will choose the desired range or financials from the drop down. Then I will insert the content where I want it to appear. I will copy a table from Excel and paste it with source formatting into PowerPoint. I can select the table and then ‘add update link.’ The second way to update a destination table is with a table created in PowerPoint. I will link the r_financial table again. I will insert a table. The add-in will indicate what size table you will need. Here I need a table with five rows and four columns. Once the table is created, I will ‘add update link.’ For destination tables, you can format the table chart any way you would like. I will go ahead and make a few changes. This method updates the content in the table in a destination formatted style, meaning the update will not modify whatever format you have applied to the table in PowerPoint.

Unlike destination tables, flex tables keep their Excel formatting. I will go ahead and select the flex table r_incomestatement from the drop down. Flex table data must be linked to a table. Add, paste, or select a table. I will copy and paste the flex table from Excel. When pasting from Excel, you can use any option but image. Flex tables can be formatted and customized in a number of ways when you set them up in Excel. Next, I will ‘add update link.’ When this table is updated, the entire table will be replaced rather than just updating the content.

The third way to link a table is by linking its image. I will link the dashboard image. Under the images section of the drop down, I will select r_dashboard. I will deselect or click away from a shape and ‘add insert link.’ Then I can move the image where I want it to be. I can also adjust its size. I will link the ribbon by copying and pasting the image from Excel. Remember to paste as an image. I will select r_ribbon from the drop down. Select the image and ‘add update link.’ To link an existing image, I will select r_image from the drop down and link it to the image I have here with add update link. Now let’s link the charts.

There are two methods to update a chart. The first is as an image of the Excel chart. I will choose r_revenue from the drop down. To insert an image, I will click on an empty space and then click ‘add update link.’ Then move the chart where I want it to be. The second way to update a chart is to link it to an Excel range it was created with. Some of the advantages of linking a chart to a range are that it reduces file and transfer size and has improved resolution. I will copy the revenue chart from Excel into PowerPoint using any option except image. If I want it to look like the Excel chart, paste it with source formatting. Under the table tab, I will choose r_piechartdata and link it to this chart that I already inserted. For the source of charts, typically the categories must be rows and each series in a column. The labels should be in the first row and column.

Now that I have linked the shapes in my PowerPoint presentation, I can verify that everything is linked on the link tab of the add-in. I will choose list all linked shapes and I will be able to see that all my content has been linked correctly and that the PowerPoint shapes are all matched to source items in Excel.

Back in Excel, I will go ahead and make some changes. I will change the client’s name to XYZ. Next, I will update some data in these ranges here and here. For the flex table, I will change the color of the header and some data. Then I will go to the submit tab and submit the content in the add-in. I can see that nine items have been submitted.

Then in PowerPoint, I will go to the update tab and update document. This will upload a copy of your PowerPoint document along with your Excel data. The Azure cloud service will then modify and open a new updated document. You can also open the updated PowerPoint by choosing ‘download document.’

The message confirms that 10 items were successfully updated. If we take a look at the new document, we can see that the client name has been updated to XYZ and the bullet points have changed. The destination tables still look like they did in PowerPoint but with updated content. And the flex table has updated data but remains formatted like it was in Excel. The three images have been updated and so have the charts.

A great resource is the insert sample content documents. Simply click insert sample content on the start tab of the add-in and the workbook will open. Then in PowerPoint, do the same thing. These documents have already been linked with the add-in and contain examples, instructions, and tips on updating a variety of content types. Refer to these documents whenever needed. Sample content documents can be helpful in a number of ways. You can change items in Excel and see how they update in PowerPoint. The quick start tab provides an overview of the most common linking options. Text and lists tabs show how to link text, paragraphs, lists. There is information on how to link tables. Creating dashboards using a variety of formula-based elements. A variety of charts can be updated from column, bar, line, pie, and more.

Additional instructions and tips are provided in the add-in. In Excel, on the list tab, there are additional directions under how to name content. It shows you the steps to name different categories of content like ranges, flex tables, shapes, and more, as well as under manage linkable content. And in PowerPoint, on the link tab, view instructions for the item you have selected, such as images, tables, or text.

We hope that this video helps make it easy for you to link and update your PowerPoint presentations from Excel using the Excel to Word document automation add-in. Thank you.