How to Insert an Excel Chart into PowerPoint (4 Easy Ways)

Below is a dataset containing a Company’s sales records for six employees from January to March. We are going to use this to plot a chart within Excel.

To create the chart,

select the dataset (the range B5:E10) and go to the Insert tab on the ribbon. We can find a wide range of chart options from the Charts group.

Select the one you prefer. We have selected a 2-D Column from the Column Chart drop-down and so we have the following chart to work with here.

Method 1: Using Keyboard Shortcuts to Paste a Chart from the Clipboard

Steps:

Go to the Excel spreadsheet and select the chart by clicking on it.
Copy the chart using Ctrl+C.

Go to the PowerPoint slide where you want to paste the chart and press Ctrl+V.

Method 2: Insert a Chart from Clipboard Through PowerPoint’s Paste Option

Steps:

Copy the chart from the Excel spreadsheet by pressing Ctrl+C.

Note: As we are using ribbon commands here, we can also do this by the Copy option available in the Clipboard group of the Excel ribbon.

Select Paste, available in the Clipboard group of the Home tab in Microsoft PowerPoint to insert it into the selected slide.

Select the downward-facing arrow below Paste to find more options and select the one you find appropriate.

Note: The latter provides more control, consistency, and accessibility over the pasted content, not just for charts but for everything to paste from a clipboard.

Method 3: Link Dynamic Charts Using the Insert Command

Steps:

This can be ignored in most cases, but it will be extremely helpful if the data changes constantly and the instantaneous data is more important for the presentation, especially in those spreadsheets where data is collected through online platforms automatically.

This method doesn’t require any copying like the other methods.

Go to the Insert tab on the Powerpoint ribbon and select Object from the Text.

A new box will pop up named Insert Object.
Select the Create from File option, Browse the Excel file that contains the chart, and check the Link.

Click OK.

As we can see from the image above, this also imports the dataset along with the chart. This method imports the whole sheet from Excel and the slide will contain everything it has.

Note: This method only imports charts, datasets, and objects from the first spreadsheet. If the chart you are concerned about is in any other sheet, put it in the first one, or this will not work.

Method 4: Link an Excel Chart Using the Paste Special Option of PowerPoint

Steps:

One advantage of the previous method is that it didn’t require the Excel file to open. However, it isn’t an issue for most of the users in most of the cases.

Copy the chart first from the Excel spreadsheet using the keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+C) or the Copy command in the ribbon.

Go to the slide in the PowerPoint and select the Paste Special option from the drop-down menu that appears once you click on the downward-facing arrow below the Paste.

Select Paste Link on the left side of the Paste Special box that popped up and click OK.

This will insert the Excel chart into the PowerPoint file.

This method inserts the chart and connects them through a link. So once the Excel data or chart is updated, the chart in PowerPoint also updates.

How to Refresh Linked Excel Charts

One of the disadvantages involved in copying and pasting methods (1 & 2) is that it doesn’t update automatically every time data changes in the Excel worksheet. However, you can refresh the charts manually to counteract this problem.

Suppose, we change the data in cell E6 of our dataset.

However, the chart in PowerPoint didn’t update automatically.

In these cases, an option called Refresh Data can help us update the chart after editing the Excel file.

You can find the option in the Data group of the Chart Design tab from the PowerPoint ribbon.

Note: The Chart Design and Format tabs appear on the ribbon only after you click on the chart.

How to Troubleshoot Linked Charts in Excel

It is not uncommon to encounter issues such as updates with linked charts. If you are facing these issues or just want to maintain them in your PowerPoint presentation, here are some troubleshooting steps.

Ensure the Excel file is in the same folder as when it was linked.
Check if the Excel file name has been changed. For the link to work, the file name should remain unchanged.
Be sure to save the workbook before linking.
Sometimes, you may have to update links manually. Right-click on the chart on PowerPoint and select Update Link to update the Excel file link. This is helpful if the file path or name is changed.
Check for missing data in Excel.
Check for compatibility issues and updates for both Excel and PowerPoint.
Recreate the chart.

Things to Remember

Make sure you have selected the chart before copying it.
Use Paste for a static chart copied from Excel; use Paste Special to enable the link option.
The Chart Design and Format tabs will only appear if you have selected the chart.

Download the Practice Files

You can download the workbook and the PowerPoint file used for the demonstration from the link below.

Inserting Excel Chart into Powerpoint.xlsx

Inserting Excel Chart into Powerpoint.ppt

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