Easily Embed Documents and Files in an Excel Spreadsheet

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Darlene Antonelli, MA. Darlene Antonelli is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Darlene has experience teaching college courses, writing technology-related articles, and working hands-on in the technology field. She earned an MA in Writing from Rowan University in 2012 and wrote her thesis on online communities and the personalities curated in such communities.

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You can embed documents into your Excel project so anyone viewing that spreadsheet can access the other document. Embedding a file in your spreadsheet can be useful when you're reporting trends with in-depth research. This wikiHow will show you how to embed documents into your Excel project in a few short steps.

Quickly Embed a File in an Excel Spreadsheet

Click the cell into which you want to embed the document.
Open the Insert tab and click Object.
On the Create from File tab, click Browse and select the document.
Check the box next to "Display as icon" and click OK.

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This method works for newer versions of Excel on either PC or Mac.

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Click the Insert tab. You'll find this in the ribbon above the document editor or at the top of your screen.

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Click the icon that looks like a program window on a sheet of paper. This is the "Object" icon and can be found in the "Text" group. A box will pop up.

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Click the Create from File tab. The tab will switch away from "Create New" and prompt you to use an already created file.

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Navigate to and double-click your file. Only files you can use will display, like PowerPoints, PDFs, and Word documents.

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Choose how to display your embedded document. If you select "Display as icon," you'll see the icon of the document appear in the cell; if you don't choose "Display as icon," the full first page of the document will appear. In either case, both embedded document displays will redirect to the full document when double-clicked.

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Click OK . You'll see this at the bottom right of the pop-up window. The document you selected will appear in the cell either as the full first-page document or icon. [1] X Research source

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