How to Link Excel to Word 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. It uses durable, portable links that stay intact even with changes to file names, content reorganization, or file sharing. In this video, you will learn how to map or link content between Excel and Word. You link content once and then update your Word documents multiple times with ease.

There are four primary types of content that can be updated. Text, the add-in can update text titles or paragraphs in Word from cells in Excel. Tables, it can update tables in Word from named ranges or tables in Excel. Tables can be linked in three ways: one as destination formatted tables which is the default method. Two- Excel formatted tables which are called Flex tables, or three as images of the Excel range. The Excel source can be a named range or a table. Charts can be updated in Word in two ways: based on an image of a chart in Excel, or based on data in an Excel range or table. Shapes and images, any Excel shape, picture, or image can also be transferred to Word as part of an update. Additionally, the add-in can also update other item types, including pivot tables and HTML formatted content.

I'll demonstrate how the add-in updates content after it's linked. Before updating Word, I'll make changes in Excel. I'll change some text and some data in this range, which will change this chart and these two shapes. Then, in the Excel add-in on the submit tab, I'll click ‘Submit Content.’ Over in Word, on the update tab, I'll click ‘Update Document’, and now I can see the changes that were submitted from Excel.

In summary, here are the steps to link content. Step one, name your Excel content. In Excel name the items you want to be the source of content in Word, such as range names, tables, charts, and shapes. The name must start with the item name prefix, which acts as a filter. Step two, submit content by clicking ‘Submit Content’. Only items with names starting with the prefix will be transferred to Word. Step three, map or link content in Word. In Word, go to the link tab and map or link the selected content to its source Excel item.

Next, I'll show you how to set up the links in Excel and Word. Let's get started with setting up our links in Excel. Here are the Excel and Word documents that I'll be using. First, we'll open the add-in in Excel. Since I've already installed it, clicking on the icon will open it in the right-side panel. I'll also open the add-in in the Word document. If you need help installing the add-in, please see our getting started guide.

It's 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'll select this cell, go to the name box, and name it starting with r underscore r_clientname. Another way to name content is to select the cell and go to the list tab of the add-in. I'll open up ranges and then I'll name the range r_summary. This how to name content section contains instructions and tools to help with naming content. Next, I'll name this range, which will be the source of a table in Word. I'll select the range and then, in the name box, I'll name it r_financials. Word tables can also be based on an Excel table, which is also called a data table. To name an Excel table, select the table, choose the table design from the ribbon, and then name it in the table name box. Next, I'll name a chart. This will allow the add-in to update the chart as an image in Word. Simply select the chart, then name it in the name box. I'll name this chart r_incomebyyear. You can also link a native chart in Word to data in an Excel named range or table. You can also link shapes, diagrams, and pictures or images. Select the shape and, in the name box, I'll name the shape r_ribbon and name this image r_image.

Now I can verify if I've properly named all the items I want to link. On the list tab of the add-in, I'll go to manage linkable content, list manage items. Here, I can see that under linkable content, my text, range, and images have all been named starting with the prefix r underscore. You can also modify item properties here. For example, I can change a table to be destination formatted or Excel formatted, which is called a flex table, or I could transfer the table as an image. Note that you can also use Excel's name manager to manage named ranges and tables.

To submit Excel links to Word, I'll go to the submit tab and click ‘Submit Content’. The message says that all six items have been submitted. When I submit, the content becomes accessible in Word. Keep in mind that each new submit will overwrite the previous one, ensuring that the most recent content is available in Word. Let's switch over to Word.

In my Word document, I'll go to the link tab of the add-in and click ‘Get Excel Content’. I can see that six 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 choose the desired destination location in the document, then click ‘Insert Content/Update Link’.

The insert content update link button can do one of three actions depending on context. If no content is selected, it will insert the content from Excel and link it. If content is selected, that content will be linked, assuming it is the correct type. For example, you can't link an image to text. Or if the content selected is already linked using the add-in, the link will be updated.

I'll start by creating my text links. I'll select text as the type from the drop-down menu and choose client name as the item to update. Since I have a client name in my document, I'll select it and click on ‘Insert Content/Update Link’. I can see here that it was successfully linked. For the summary text, I'll select the appropriate link and then insert it where I would want it to appear. In Word when you link an item, the add-in surrounds the content with a content control. The content control contains the name of the Excel source item, and that's how the add-in knows what Excel content to put in the content control.

Next, I'll create a link for the table. I'll select the desired table or financials from the dropdown, then I'll insert the content where I want it to appear. This method updates the information and data in the table in a destination formatted style, meaning the update will not modify whatever format you've applied to the table in Word. Alternatively, you can use source formatted tables, which are called Flex tables. Flex tables maintain the Excel cell formatted appearance, or you could update an image of the source Excel table. As mentioned previously, the table format method is controlled in the Excel add-in, but with this destination formatted table, you can format it any way you want and the add-in will only change the text in it.

Next, let's link the chart. I'll choose the image of the chart r_incomebyyear from the dropdown and insert the content update link where I want it to be in the document. Keep in mind that charts can also be updated based on data in an Excel table or range.

Next, we'll link the images. Under the images section of the dropdown, I can see the image items I submitted from Excel. I'll select r_ribbon and insert it here, then I'll choose r_image and I'll insert it here. Note that images must be in line and can't be absolutely positioned, but you can put linked images in a container such as a text box shape or a table cell. This enables very flexible layouts.

Now that I've inserted all the links into my Word document, I can verify that everything is linked on the link tab of the add-in. I'll choose list links and I'll be able to see that all of my content has been linked correctly and that the Word links are all matched to source items in Excel. A second way to verify links and to help troubleshoot linking issues is the appearance of content controls. If you choose ‘Show All’ green highlights indicate that an item is matched with content submitted from Excel. Show on hover is the default setting for linking documents. After you've completed linking, be sure to ‘Hide Content Controls’ so they aren't visible to your recipients. The add-in also contains other tools to view and troubleshoot links. Use prior and next to navigate to each content control. Choose ‘List All Links’, which displays the item type, the Excel source, and whether the item is matched with data from Excel. You can click on an item to navigate to its location in the document.

For larger documents, if you only want to update a portion of the links, select the content and then click update selected controls on the link tab. This is an easy way to update only some items without updating the full document. For example, if I select three content controls, then update selected controls, only those three will update. This will save time and reduce usage consumption.

You can also copy and paste linked content within the same document or to another document and the links will still update properly. For example, I'll copy and paste these three sections to demonstrate how they keep their content controls and links. You can see that there are now three more items under list links.

Back in Excel, I'll go ahead and make some changes. I'll change the client's name to XYZ. Next, I'll update some data in this range, then I'll go to the submit tab and ‘Submit Content’ in the add-in. I can see that six items have been submitted. Then, in Word, I'll go to the update tab and ‘Update Document’. The text, table, and images were all updated and the message confirms that all six items were successfully updated.

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 Word, 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. Here are some examples from the Excel and Word documents. The ‘Quick Start’ tab provides an overview of the most common linking options. The ‘Texts and Lists’ tab show how to link text, paragraphs, and lists. You can link ‘Flex Tables’, which are Excel formatted and are great for financial reports. ‘Images’ of ranges can be helpful in creating dashboards based on a variety of formula based elements like spark lines, conditional formatting, and a chart in a range. A variety of ‘Charts’ can be updated from column, bar, line, pie, and more. Refer to these documents whenever needed. Other linking instructions can be found in Excel on the ‘List’ tab under how to name content and in Word on the ‘Link’ tab under details. Also see the resources library at analysisplace.com for the Excel-to-Word Document Automation add-in. Thank you.