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MS Excel VBA

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Copy Paste Excel Table as Plain Text in Microsoft Word

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Copy Paste Excel Table as Plain Text in Microsoft Word

If all you want is to copy and paste a table from Excel to Word, you can do that with a simple copy-paste.

It allows you to get the static table in MS Word, where you can then format it (and change it if you want).

The downside of this method is that if there are any formulas in the data, that won’t work. And since this is a static table, any changes you make in Excel will not get reflected in the table you copied to Word.

But in most cases, this is precisely what you want.

Let’s see how to do this.

Suppose you have a dataset, as shown below, and you want to copy this data from Excel and insert it into Word.

Data to copy from Excel to Word

Below are the steps to do this:

  1. Select the data in MS Excel that you want to copy to Word
  2. Right-click and then click on Copy (or use the keyboards shortcut Command + C in Windows or Command + C in Mac)

Copy the data in Excel

  1. Open the MS Word document where you want to insert this data
  2. Position the cursor where you want this data in the Word document
  3. Go to the Home tab in MS Word and click on Paste (or use the keyboard shortcut Control + V)

Click the Paste option

The above actions would copy the data from Excel and paste it as a static table in the Word document.

Data copied to Word

Once you have the table in MS Word, you can format and work with it just like any other table that you insert in Word.

A couple of things to note when using this method:

  • If there are any formulas in the table in Excel, I won’t be copied. I have the formulas in the Total row in my example, but when copied to Word, these are static values. If you make any changes to any data, you will have to adjust the formula values as well manually.
  • If you don’t want to copy the formatting from Excel and would rather want to use the formatting of the Word document, you can use the option Use Destination Style option. It shows up when you click on the Paste Options icon after past the table in Word.

 

Embed Excel Table into Word (as a Linked Object)

We copied the data from MS Excel and inserted it as a static table into Word in the above method.

Another option that you can use is to copy and paste the table into a Word document and keep the two tables connected.

If you make any changes in the Excel table that you copied, you will see that these are mirrored in real-time in the table in Word.

It is quite useful when there is a possibility that you may have to update the data in Excel, and it would also need to be updated in Word. By including the linked table, you only need to make changes in Excel data, and these would automatically get reflected in the table you copied to Word.
Let me show you how this works.
Imagine you have a table shown below, and you want to copy it from Excel to MS Word and keep this linked.

Data to copy from Excel to Word

 

Below are the steps to do this:

  1. Select the data in Excel that you want to copy to Word
  2. Right-click and then click on Copy (or use the keyboard shortcut Control + C)
  3. Open the Word document where you want to insert this data.
  4. Place the cursor where you want this data in the Word document.
  5. Go to the Home tab in MS Word and click on the Paste drop-down (click on the small inverted arrow below the Paste Special icon)

Click on Paste Special drop down

 

  • In the Paste Special dialog box, select the ‘Paste link’ option.

Select Paste Link Option

  • Select Microsoft Excel Worksheet Object from the listed options

Select Microsoft Excel Worksheet Object

The overhead steps would insert the copied table in Word, where it’s still linked to the original table in Excel.

Now, if you go and create any changes in the table in Excel, you will see that the same is reflected in the table in Word (in real-time).

 

Here are some something you need to know about this method:

  • Since the two files are linked to each other, you will have to keep these together. If you’re sending the Word file to someone, you will also have to send them the Excel file, or the link will be broken, and the data in Word will not update.
  • Whenever the Word file opens, it will check for any updates in the Excel table. It works even if the Excel file is closed.

Copy Excel Table as a Satic Image

If you’re preparing a report and all you want is a really easy way to show some table (without changing the data), you can insert that data as an image.

Doing this is easy, and images are also easier to manage in Word (such as placement and resizing).

With copying and images, you also have an option to link the image to the table in Excel. If you make any changes in the Excel table, it will be reflected in the table image in Word.

Inserting Copied Table as a Static Image in Word

Suppose you have a table as shown below in Excel:

Data to copy from Excel to Word

Below are the actions to copy this table and insert it as an image in MS Word:

  1. Select the data in Excel that you want to copy to Word
  2. Right-click and then click on Copy (or use the keyboard shortcut Control + C)
  3. Open the Word document where you want to insert this data.
  4. Place the cursor where you want this data in the Word document.
  5. Go to the Home tab in Word and click on the Paste drop-down (click on the small inverted arrow below the Paste Special icon)
  6. In the options that show up, click on Paste Special.

Click on Paste Special

  1. In the Paste Special dialog box, make sure the ‘Paste’ option is selected
Select Paste when copying as Picture
  1. Select ‘Picture’ from the listed options
Select the Picture option

The above actions would insert an image of the table in the Word document.

Like any other image, you can resize and format it.

Inserting Copied Table as a Linked Image in Word

If you like the flexibility of handling images in Word and still want the table to be connected to the original Excel file, you can do that.

Suppose you have a table as shown below in Excel:

Data to copy from Excel to Word

Below are the actions to copy this table and insert it as a linked image in MS Word:

  1. Select the table in Excel
  2. Right-click and then click on Copy (or use the keyboard shortcut Control + C).
  3. Open the Word document where you want to insert this data.
  4. Place the cursor where you want this data in the Word document.
  5. Go to the Home tab in Word and click on Paste Special.

Click on Paste Special

  1. In the Paste Special dialog box, select the ‘Paste Link’ option

Click the Paste Link option

  1. Select ‘Picture’ from the listed options

Select the Picture option to paste

  1. Click OK

Again, the above steps would give you an image that you can easily resize and format.

 Since this is linked to the original table in Excel, if you make any changes in the original table, these would also be reflected in the image.

Also, remember that since this image is linked to the original data, if you plan to share this Word document with someone else, you should also share the Excel File (in case you want the link to remain as is)

If the excel file is not available or the name is changed, the image would be just like any other regular image.

So these are some of the ways you can use to copy a table for Excel and insert it into Word. I prefer copying and pasting Excel tables as images in most cases, as these are easier to manage. In some cases, I also prefer the embed method, which allows me to open the Excel file from within Word itself.

I hope you found this tutorial useful!

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