With our link, you can export Excel data to PPT and Word and easily update it in one click. You can also rename, move and update your files without re-linking.

Summary

• How to create links
• Link tables and charts
• Resize and Export tables and charts
• Link text
• Hide text exports
• Link using copy/paste
• How to update linked items
• Update one item in your document
• Update multiple or all items in your document

How to create links

Link tables and charts

1. In PowerPoint/Word, select the slide or page onto which you want to export your data
2. Open your Excel workbook and select the table or chart you want to export
3. Within Excel, go to the UpSlide toolbar PowerPoint/Word button and select Export to PowerPoint/Word from the drop-down.
4. Once the link has been created, remember to save both the PowerPoint and Excel files to ensure the link remains intact.

Your items are linked across as dynamic images. This helps ensure that the file size remains light while preserving the quality of your source data. You can reposition the image into the correct location on your slide or page.

You can also create a table and chart link by copying it from Excel and pasting it in PowerPoint. You will see a prompt at the top right-hand side to use the UpSlide link, which will create the dynamic image.

Resize and Export tables and charts

When using the Link, you can also predetermine the position and dimensions of your export, allowing you to ensure that the linked image fits perfectly on the slide. 

To use the resize and export feature:

1. Select the text box or placeholder where you would like the data to go. The shape of the placeholder will determine the dimensions of the linked item. 
2. Press the spacebar to remove any unwanted text from the placeholder
3. In Excel, select the table or chart that you would like to export
4. Click the down arrow on the PowerPoint button (or the Word button if linking to Word) in Excel and select Resize and Export from the drop-down

The table or chart will link directly to the PowerPoint or Word placeholder. Remember to save both the PowerPoint/Word and Excel files after linking. 

Link text

Are you always trying to maintain consistency between the commentary you write in PowerPoint/Word and the figures shown in your tables/charts? Link those figures into your commentary to keep them up to date.

1. Within PowerPoint/Word, select the text where you'd like to insert your link
2. Select a single cell in Excel
3. Select the Export option. A popup will ask you to choose between exporting its content as text or an image. Select text.

In the case of text, data is exported to the selected location as a hyperlink (similar to what is generally used for cross-references) linked to the source cell in Excel. 

Use copy/paste to create text links, simply copy a single cell in Excel, paste into your selected area in PowerPoint and click the Link to Excel prompt. If you have a shape selected this will replace the contents of that shape, but if you are in edition mode (your cursor is flashing inside the shape) then the text link will be created as if you used the Export button.

Hide text exports

When data is linked as text using UpSlide, it is formatted as a hyperlink in PowerPoint and appears as highlighted in Word. This is to quickly show you what text/figures linked to Excel are and what are not. However, these hyperlinks may need to be removed before presenting or printing the presentation.

To remove the hyperlink, click the Hide text exports button within PowerPoint or Word. If you need to edit the presentation further, click the Hide text exports button to restore the hyperlinks. Text exports are also unhidden when creating a new text link or opening the Update All Links window.

Link using copy/paste

When pasting a chart or table copied from Excel, you will notice a prompt with the option to convert the image to an UpSlide link. The linked table or chart will behave the same whether created by copy/paste or via the UpSlide toolbar.

How to update linked items

Update one item in your document

If you select the imported Excel data in PowerPoint/Word and click the Update button, UpSlide examines all open Excel workbooks and looks for potential sources. 

This means that both the Excel source and the document you're trying to update should be open. Depending on what is found, three situations may arise:

1. Success! A single potential source is found in your open Excel files. In this case, your data is updated.
2. No potential sources are found, in which case you can use the Go to Source button to find out which file was last used as the source, who last updated it, and the date/time of the last update.
3. Several potential sources are found, in which case, Go to Source/Link Information will also be helpful to select the correct one. This lists all possible sources and previews the potential sources for you to choose from. This can occur when several versions of the same file are opened simultaneously. 

You can also select the imported data from Excel and use the top right hand side prompt to Update it. In this dropdown you can also quickly use the Go to Source and Link Information features.

Update multiple or all items in your document

The Update All button is used to update multiple links at once. When selected, UpSlide will display a list of all linked data in the active document (imported either as a picture or as text). From there, you can select which links to update. 

To help you decide which imports should be updated, clicking on any item in the list will display and select the corresponding data in the PowerPoint/Word document. 

When you click the Update button, UpSlide will try to update each selected item with the corresponding data in the Excel workbooks. The shapes for which the update has failed (due to excess or lack of potential sources) are put in a separate list.

You can open the Find the source dialog box directly by double-clicking the problematic items.

Update All has a few essential purposes. It allows you to:

• Update all/multiple imported shapes in the active document simultaneously. 
• Ignore any date conflicts for all selected imports using the Ignore outdated data warnings checkbox. You will use this option if you need to update from an old version of the source Excel file.
• View all the Excel files linked to the active document. Check which files each import is linked to by clicking the Display source 🛈 button. Check the boxes, then click the 🛈 button.
• Open all the Excel files linked to the active document. Automatically open these Excel files by checking each import you want to inspect and then click on the Open Source button.