This is the last part of the 3 part tutorial on linking PowerPoint to Excel. In this tutorial I will go over how you can link a chart in a PowerPoint presentation to one that you have built in an Excel worksheet.

Related : Part 1 - How to link an Excel worksheet to a PowerPoint presentation
Related : Part 2 - How to link a table in Excel to a PowerPoint presentation
Related : Part 4 - How to link a Pivot Chart in Excel to a PowerPoint presentation
Related : Part 5 - How to link a Pivot Table in Excel to a PowerPoint presentation

If you are going directly to this tutorial I highly recommend that you check out the 1st part of this tutorial by clicking here, I run through the basics on linking within PowerPoint, it’s a long read but worthwhile!

Step 1 - Building and formatting your Chart

As I mentioned in the previous parts, make sure you always format what you are linking in Excel, as you can see I have already completed the formatting on my chart.

Step 1 - Building and formatting your Chart

Make sure you have a PowerPoint presentation open then click on the chart in the Excel document and copy the chart (CTRL+C), then switch to the PowerPoint presentation.

Step 2 - Copy your chart

Step 2 - Creating the link

Now, switch back to the PowerPoint presentation and then click on Edit > Paste Special option to open up the Paste Special As… dialog box.

Step 3 - Paste Special As Menu

You want to setup the Paste Special dialog box so that you are pasting a Paste Link As Microsoft Office Excel Worksheet Object (exactly as the screen shot below) then click the OK button.

Step 4 - Paste Special dialog box

The presentation now looks like this:

Step 5 - Presentation yet to be cleaned up

After some cleaning up of the text placeholders you should have the chart you created in the Excel worksheet linked to your PowerPoint presentation.

Step 7 - Presentation Complete

There you have it! The PowerPoint presentation is now linked to the chart in the Excel document.

Points to Remember!

  • Make sure you zoom factor in Excel and PowerPoint are set to 100%
  • Make sure all your formatting is done in Excel as it flows through to your PowerPoint presentation
  • Tips on updating your links can be found in my previous post
  • Double clicking on the object in PowerPoint will directly open up the Excel worksheet where the object resides
  • Make sure you never move your source file out of the directory where you created your links as it will break all your links! (So think and plan well before you start linking!)
  • Use the align tool within PowerPoint (under the Drawing toolbar - Draw > Align and Distribute) to align your linked objects accurately (screenshot here)

If you have any suggestions or problems please comment.

Enjoy!