Have you created a pre­sen­ta­tion in Pow­er­Point and want to insert an Excel spread­sheet into it? It’s rel­a­tive­ly simple and straight­for­ward, since Microsoft Office products are highly com­pat­i­ble. You basically have three options to choose from: You can link or embed an Excel spread­sheet in Pow­er­Point, create a new Excel spread­sheet in Pow­er­Point or insert an existing Excel spread­sheet into Pow­er­Point as an image. In this guide, we’ll explain the dif­fer­ences between these options and give you step-by-step in­struc­tions.

Linking Pow­er­Point to Excel: Ad­van­tages and in­struc­tions

Have you created an Excel spread­sheet and want to show its contents in Pow­er­Point, but still be able to edit the spread­sheet later? In that case, you should insert the Excel file into your Pow­er­Point by creating a link to the Excel data. Changes to your original Excel spread­sheet will then be au­to­mat­i­cal­ly updated in your pre­sen­ta­tion when you reopen the file after saving and closing.

Proceed as follows:

  1. Open your Pow­er­Point pre­sen­ta­tion and position your cursor in the place where you want to insert the Excel data in the slide. In the menu bar of the “Insert” tab, select the Object button.
Image: PowerPoint “Insert” tab: “Object” button
On the “Insert” tab, select “Object”.
  1. A dialog box appears. Click Create from file and select the file location of your Excel worksheet. Finally, select the Link checkbox and click OK. The spread­sheet has now been inserted into your pre­sen­ta­tion. If necessary, you can adjust the size of the spread­sheet using the ap­pro­pri­ate Pow­er­Point shortcut.
Image: “Insert Object” dialog in PowerPoint”
In the “Insert Object” dialog box, select “Create from file”.
  1. If you want to edit your Excel spread­sheet, double-click the spread­sheet you inserted into Pow­er­Point. You will au­to­mat­i­cal­ly be taken to your spread­sheet, opened in Excel.
Tip

With Microsoft 365 from IONOS, you can work on your documents in any Office ap­pli­ca­tion from any location and on different devices. Inserting an Excel spread­sheet into Word is also a cinch with the Office suite.

How to create a new Excel spread­sheet in Pow­er­Point

Want to create a new spread­sheet for your Pow­er­Point pre­sen­ta­tion and still be able to use Excel’s functions? In that case, you can create the Excel spread­sheet directly in Pow­er­Point. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. Open your Pow­er­Point pre­sen­ta­tion and place the cursor exactly where you want your spread­sheet to appear in the slide. Open the “Insert” tab and click Table.
  2. Select Excel Spread­sheet or Insert table at the bottom of the dropdown menu.
Image: PowerPoint: Insert Excel Spreadsheet
On the “Insert” tab in Pow­er­Point, select “Table” and then “Excel Spread­sheet” or “Insert table”.
  1. Pow­er­Point will create an empty spread­sheet. You can now add your content. All the functions you already know from Excel are available in the Pow­er­Point menu. When you’re finished with your spread­sheet, click outside the spread­sheet to return to your Pow­er­Point menu.
Image: Spreadsheet in PowerPoint with Excel functions
You can use Excel functions to edit the spread­sheet you created in Pow­er­Point.

Inserting an Excel spread­sheet into Pow­er­Point as a picture

What if you no longer need to make changes to an Excel spread­sheet and you simply want to insert it into Pow­er­Point while main­tain­ing the existing for­mat­ting? In that case, you can insert the spread­sheet as a picture:

  1. First, open your Excel spread­sheet and use your cursor to select the entire spread­sheet or the section of data that you want to show in your Pow­er­Point pre­sen­ta­tion. Copy the selected area either by right-clicking and choosing Copy or using the Excel shortcut Ctrl + C.
Image: Select and copy the Excel spreadsheet
Select and copy the data in your Excel spread­sheet that you want to paste into Pow­er­Point.
  1. Now open the Pow­er­Point pre­sen­ta­tion and position your cursor in the place where you want the Excel data to appear in the slide. Under “Home”, select the “Paste” button and then Picture.
Image: Pasting a picture into PowerPoint
Paste the picture by choosing “Home” and “Paste”.
  1. You can then freely adjust the size of the table as you would any image.
Note

If your Pow­er­Point pre­sen­ta­tion is very long, use the Pow­er­Point outline view to maintain a general overview and make your work much easier.

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