How to Export Graph from Excel

Moving a chart from Excel into a report or presentation seems simple, but one wrong move can leave you with a blurry, distorted, or broken graph. This tutorial walks you through the best methods for exporting your Excel graphs cleanly and professionally, ensuring they look just as good in your PowerPoint, Word doc, or website as they do in your spreadsheet.

The Easiest Method (With a Catch): Simple Copy and Paste

The most common way to get a chart out of Excel is to copy and paste it into another application like Word or PowerPoint. While fast, this method comes with a few things to keep in mind.

When you use the standard paste option, Excel links the chart data by default. This can be great, but it can also be a headache.

• The Good: Your chart automatically updates in your document if you change the data in the original Excel file.
• The Bad: If you move, rename, or delete the Excel file, the link breaks, and your chart won't update. This can lead to broken images or errors if you send the document to someone who doesn't have the Excel file.

For a quick internal report where the source file won't move, this method works fine. But for important presentations or documents you'll be sharing widely, it's better to use a more stable method.

How to Copy and Paste an Excel Graph:

1. Click on the border of your chart in Excel to select the entire object. Make sure you don't click on an individual element like a bar or a title.
2. Copy the chart by pressing Ctrl + C (or Cmd + C on Mac).
3. Navigate to your Word document, PowerPoint slide, or email.
4. Click where you want the chart to appear and press Ctrl + V (or Cmd + V on Mac) to paste.

After pasting, you’ll often see a small "Paste Options" icon. You can click this to choose how the chart is embedded, which gives you more control over linking and formatting.

Best for Office Apps: Using Paste Special for More Control

For a more reliable way to move charts into Microsoft Word or PowerPoint, the "Paste Special" command is your best friend. It lets you decide exactly how the chart is embedded, giving you a better balance of quality and editability.

To access it, copy your chart as usual, then in Word or PowerPoint, go to the Home tab, click the small arrow under the Paste button, and select Paste Special. You’ll see several options, but two are particularly useful:

1. Microsoft Excel Chart Object (the "live" option) This embeds the chart along with its data directly into your document. The chart remains fully editable - you can right-click it and choose "Edit Data" to open a mini-spreadsheet right inside PowerPoint or Word. It doesn't rely on the original file, so you can share the document without worrying about broken links.

2. Picture (Enhanced Metafile) (the "high-quality image" option) This option pastes your chart as a high-quality vector image. "Vector" simply means you can resize it as much as you want without it ever looking blurry or pixelated. While you can’t edit the chart's data anymore, this is the safest and most professional-looking option. The file is small, the visual is crisp, and what you see is what you get.

For most external presentations and final reports, Picture (Enhanced Metafile) is the recommended choice.

Best for Web & Other Apps: Saving a Graph as an Image File

If you need to use your chart on a website, in Google Slides, or in any application outside of the Microsoft ecosystem, saving it directly as an image file is the way to go. This makes your graph universally shareable.

Excel has a built-in feature for this that is surprisingly overlooked.

How to "Save as Picture":

1. Right-click the border of your chart in Excel.
2. Select Save as Picture... from the dropdown menu.
3. A dialog box will appear, letting you choose where to save the file, name it, and select the file type.

You’ll have several file formats to choose from. Here’s a quick guide:

• PNG (best for most charts): PNG files are perfect for graphics with sharp lines and text, like most business charts. They offer a transparent background option, which is great for layering your chart on colored presentation slides. This is usually the best all-around choice.
• JPG (better for photos): JPGs are great for compressing photos but can make the text and lines in your chart look a little fuzzy. Use this format only if file size is a major concern.
• SVG (best for high-res design): Scalable Vector Graphics are a designer’s favorite. Like an Enhanced Metafile, SVGs are vector images that can be resized infinitely without quality loss. If you're sending the chart to a graphic designer or need it for a high-resolution print or web design, SVG is the top choice.

Pro Tip: Adjust Your Chart Before Exporting

Your chart might look great in Excel, but it might not translate perfectly elsewhere. Before you export, consider making a few adjustments for a cleaner, more readable result:

• Increase Font Size: Text that’s readable on your monitor might be too small on a projector screen. Bump up the size of your axis labels, legend, and title.
• Remove Chart Borders: Often, the default border around your chart isn't needed and can clash with the design of your document. To remove it, right-click the chart, choose "Format Chart Area," and select "No line" under the Border options.
• Check Your Colors: Ensure your chart colors have enough contrast to be seen clearly by everyone. Avoid pairing light colors like yellow with a light gray.

Bonus Method: Get a Perfect Crop Every Time

Sometimes, simply saving the chart as a picture doesn't give you enough control over the "white space" or surrounding area. If you want a perfectly cropped image, you can use the screenshot tools built into your operating system combined with the Copy feature.

1. In Excel, click your chart and use Ctrl + C to copy it.
2. Open a basic image editing program like Paint (on Windows) or Preview (on Mac).
3. Paste the chart (Ctrl + V).
4. Now, you can use the program's crop and resize tools to get the image exactly how you want it, then save it as a PNG or JPG.

This adds an extra step, but it’s a reliable way to make sure your final image is pixel-perfect.

Final Thoughts

Exporting graphs from Excel is a daily task in business reporting, but choosing the right method can make a big difference in quality and professionalism. Whether you use the simple "Save as Picture" feature, lean on "Paste Special" for Office documents, or just copy and paste for quick tasks, you now have the tools to do it effectively.

Wrestling with exporting charts is a common sign of a larger challenge: spending too much time on manual reporting instead of acting on insights. Instead of building charts in one place only to move them somewhere else, we built Graphed to create interactive, real-time dashboards that you can share directly with your team. By connecting your live data sources and letting you ask questions in plain English, you can build and share reports in seconds - without ever thinking about exports again.