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How to Import Data from Excel to PowerPoint Chart

Cody Schneider•

Tired of manually recreating your Excel charts in PowerPoint every time the data updates? You can directly link your Excel worksheets to your presentation, creating a dynamic, single source of truth that saves you a ton of time. This guide will walk you through the different ways to import and link data from Excel to PowerPoint, so your charts are always accurate and ready to present.

Before You Start: A Quick Prep

For a smooth process, have both your Excel spreadsheet and your PowerPoint presentation open. Make sure your data in Excel is organized neatly in a table or range that's easy to select. If you’ve already created the chart in Excel, that’s great too - it will make the direct copy-and-paste method even faster. Cleaning up your data now will save you from formatting headaches later.

Method 1: The Classic Copy and Paste

The most common and flexible way to get an Excel chart into PowerPoint is by simply copying and pasting. But behind this simple action are some powerful options that control how your data behaves. The key decision you'll make here is whether to embed the data or link it.

  • Embedding: This option places a static copy of your Excel chart and its underlying data into your PowerPoint file. It becomes part of the presentation, and any changes you make to the chart in PowerPoint will not affect your original Excel file. Conversely, updating the original Excel file will not update the chart in your presentation. Choose embedding when you need a self-contained presentation file for a specific point in time, like a final report or a proposal.

  • Linking: This creates a live connection between your PowerPoint chart and your original Excel file. If you update the data in your Excel sheet, the chart in your PowerPoint presentation will update automatically (or with a quick refresh). This is the perfect method for recurring reports, dashboards, and presentations where you always need to show the most current numbers.

Here’s how to do it and choose the right option for your needs.

Step-by-Step Guide to Copying and Pasting

  1. Copy the Chart in Excel: Open your Excel workbook, click on the chart you want to use to select it, and press Ctrl + C (or Command + C on Mac).

  2. Paste into PowerPoint: Switch over to your PowerPoint presentation, navigate to the desired slide, and press Ctrl + V (or Command + V on Mac).

  3. Choose Your Paste Option: After pasting, a small "Paste Options" icon will appear near the chart. Clicking this reveals several choices. These are crucial because they determine whether you link or embed, and how the chart is formatted.

Understanding the Paste Options

You’ll typically see five options, and they fall into three categories: Embed, Link, or Picture.

To Embed the Chart:

  • Use Destination Theme & Embed Workbook: This is a great default choice. The chart will be embedded as a non-linked copy, and its colors, fonts, and styles will automatically change to match your PowerPoint presentation’s design theme. This makes your presentation look seamless and professional. To edit the chart's underlying data, you would right-click and "edit data," which opens a mini Excel window within PowerPoint.

  • Keep Source Formatting & Embed Workbook: This also embeds a copy of the chart, but it preserves the original formatting from Excel - including colors, fonts, and layout. Use this if you’ve spent a lot of time custom-styling your chart in Excel and want it to look exactly the same in your presentation.

To Link the Chart:

  • Use Destination Theme & Link Data: This is the most powerful option for dynamic presentations. Your chart is linked to the source Excel file and it adapts to match your presentation's theme. Every time you open the PowerPoint, it will ask to update from the linked files automatically. We highly recommend this one for monthly reporting or internal dashboards.

  • Keep Source Formatting & Link Data: This links the chart to your Excel file while retaining all of your original formatting from Excel. Your data will stay live, but the chart's aesthetic will remain consistent with your Excel file, which may clash with your slide deck’s design.

To Paste as a Picture:

  • Picture: This option pastes a static image of your chart. It’s the simplest but least flexible method. You cannot edit the data, change the chart type, or update the numbers. The upside is a smaller file size and zero chance of broken links. It's useful for archiving final reports or when you want to ensure a visual cannot be accidentally changed.

Method 2: Inserting an Excel Object

If you want to display an entire worksheet or just feel more comfortable navigating menus, you can use the "Insert Object" function. This method also allows you to either embed or link your Excel file.

  1. In PowerPoint, go to the Insert tab on the ribbon.

  2. In the Text group, click on Object.

  3. A dialog box will pop up. Select the "Create from File" option.

  4. Click the "Browse" button to locate and select your Excel workbook.

  5. Now for the most important step: locate the "Link" checkbox.

    • Leave "Link" unchecked if you want to embed the workbook.

    • Check the "Link" box if you want to create a live connection to your Excel file.

  6. Click OK.

This will insert an object on your slide that looks like your spreadsheet's first tab. You can double-click it to start interacting with it (or open the source file if linked). If you want to only show your chart, make sure your chart is the primary element of the first visible tab in your worksheet.

Method 3: Creating a Chart in PowerPoint with Excel Data

What if you just have raw data in Excel and want to build a chart from scratch directly in PowerPoint? This approach gives you the most control over the chart’s appearance using PowerPoint's native tools, but it creates a static, unlinked chart.

  1. Navigate to the Insert tab in PowerPoint and click Chart.

  2. Select the type of chart you want (e.g., column, line, pie) and click OK.

  3. PowerPoint will insert a placeholder chart on your slide and open a small, simplified Excel window titled "Chart in Microsoft PowerPoint."

  4. Now, open your separate Excel spreadsheet that contains the data.

  5. Copy the data range you need.

  6. Go back to the small Excel window in PowerPoint, select the top-left cell (A1), and paste your copied data. Tip: it's best to overwrite the sample data entirely instead of just editing it. Make sure you don't copy your column headers along with it. Add them in line-by-line after you paste the data.

  7. The chart on your slide will instantly update to reflect your new data. You can now close the mini Excel data-entry window.

Managing and Updating Linked Charts

If you chose to link your data, you’ve unlocked the ability to keep your presentation in sync with your latest numbers. Here’s how to manage those connections.

Refreshing Linked Data

When you open a PowerPoint presentation that contains linked files, a security banner will often appear asking if you want to update the links. Clicking "Update Links" will automatically pull the freshest data from your saved Excel file.

If the data changes in Excel while the PowerPoint is open, you can manually refresh it:

  1. Go to the File menu.

  2. In the Info section, on the bottom right, you'll see a section called Related Documents.

  3. Click on "Edit Links to Files."

  4. In the dialog box that appears, select the link you want to refresh and click "Update Now."

Fixing Broken Links

A link can break if the source Excel file is moved, renamed, or deleted. If PowerPoint can't find the file, your chart won't update and may show an error.

To fix this, go to File > Info > Edit Links to Files:

  • Select the broken link (it will likely show an error status).

  • Click the "Change Source" button.

  • Navigate to the new location of your Excel file, select it, and click "Open."

  • The link will be re-established, and you can click "Update Now" to refresh your chart.

Pro Tip: To avoid broken links, try keeping your Excel and PowerPoint files together in the same folder. This way, if you move the folder to a new location, the relative path between the files remains intact.

Final Thoughts

Bringing your Excel charts and data into PowerPoint transforms your slides from static reports into dynamic, data-driven stories. By choosing whether to link or embed, you can easily create presentations that are always up-to-date for a weekly meeting or perfectly preserved for a final proposal.

While these methods are powerful, the process of pulling data and manually updating reports is often where teams lose hours of valuable time. We built Graphed to solve this by automating the reporting drudgery. You connect performance data sources like Google Analytics, Shopify, and your ad platforms just once. Then, you can simply ask for the dashboard you need in plain English. Graphed builds it instantly, and your dashboards are always live and shareable, so you can spend less time copying and pasting and more time acting on your insights.