How to Copy a Graph from Excel to Word

To copy a graph from Excel to Word, click the outer border of the chart in Excel and press Ctrl + C. Then click the spot in your Word document where the chart belongs and press Ctrl + V. On a Mac, use Command + C and Command + V. A plain paste keeps the chart linked to your workbook, so it can be refreshed when the numbers change. To make it a self-contained copy or a fixed picture instead, select the Paste Options button that appears next to the pasted chart.

Applies to: Word and Excel for Microsoft 365, 2024 and 2021 on Windows, plus Word and Excel for Mac. Word and Excel 2019 and 2016 use the same steps, but Microsoft ended support for Office 2016 and 2019 on October 14, 2025. The steps match Microsoft’s guide to inserting an Excel chart into Word.

Decide how the chart should behave

Before you paste, ask one question: should the chart in Word change when the Excel data changes? Your answer picks the paste type.

Paste type	What Word stores	Updates from Excel?	Good for
Linked chart	The chart plus the location of your workbook	Yes, when you refresh it	Monthly or weekly reports built from the same spreadsheet
Embedded chart	The chart plus a copy of the workbook	No, but you can edit its data inside Word	Documents you send to people who don’t have your Excel file
Picture	An image of the chart	No, and the numbers can’t be edited	Final versions, PDFs and documents that must not change

Microsoft’s overview of linked and embedded objects explains the trade-off: a linked object stays small because the data lives in the source file, while an embedded object becomes part of the Word file and no longer depends on the workbook.

Copy and paste the chart

1. Save the workbook in its permanent folder. If you plan to keep the chart linked, Word remembers where the workbook was when you copied it. Moving or renaming it later breaks the link.
2. Select the whole chart. In Excel, click the empty white area just inside the chart’s border. Small square handles appear on the edges and corners. If only the title, legend or one set of bars is outlined, you’ve selected a single element; click the border again.

3. Copy it. Press Ctrl + C, right-click the border and choose Copy, or select Home > Copy.
4. Click where the chart goes in Word. Place the cursor on an empty line so the chart doesn’t land in the middle of a paragraph.
5. Paste it. Press Ctrl + V or select Home > Paste. The chart appears with a small clipboard icon, the Paste Options button, near its lower-right corner.
6. Change the paste type if needed. Select Paste Options and pick one of the five icons described below. You can also right-click in Word before pasting and choose an icon under Paste Options; hovering over each icon previews the result.

When you select the pasted chart, the Chart Design and Format tabs appear on the ribbon. That’s your sign it’s still a chart and not a picture.

Choose a paste option

Microsoft lists five options in Copy from Excel to another Office program. “Destination theme” means the chart takes on the fonts and colors of your Word document; “source formatting” keeps it looking exactly as it did in Excel.

Option	Result	Pick it when
Use Destination Theme & Embed Workbook	Embedded copy styled like your document	You’re sending a self-contained file and want consistent styling
Keep Source Formatting & Embed Workbook	Embedded copy with Excel’s colors and fonts	The chart’s design must stay exactly as built
Use Destination Theme & Link Data (the default for Ctrl + V)	Linked chart styled like your document	You update the report regularly from one workbook
Keep Source Formatting & Link Data	Linked chart with Excel’s formatting	Regular reports that must match a branded design
Picture	A static image	The numbers are final

Before you embed, check what’s in the workbook. An embedded chart carries a copy of the workbook data inside the Word file. Anyone who receives the document can open that data with Chart Design > Edit Data, including other sheets you may not want to share, such as salaries or customer lists. If the workbook holds anything private, paste a picture or copy the chart into a clean workbook first. Embedding also makes the Word file noticeably larger.

Paste Special for more control

Paste Special lets you pick a format directly, including high-quality picture formats that the Paste Options icons don’t offer.

1. Copy the chart in Excel.
2. In Word, select the arrow under Home > Paste and choose Paste Special.
3. Choose Paste for an unlinked copy, or Paste link to keep a connection to the workbook. Microsoft notes that Paste link is unavailable if the source can’t be linked or hasn’t been saved.
4. In the As list, pick a format. Entries ending in “Chart Object” or “Graphic Object” keep it a chart. Picture (Enhanced Metafile) gives a sharp vector-style image that resizes cleanly for printing, and Picture (PNG) gives a standard image.
5. Select OK.

The format names in the list depend on your version, and Microsoft’s Paste Special reference describes each picture format. If you need the chart together with its worksheet as an object that opens in Excel, use Insert > Object > Create from File instead; that route is covered in how to embed an Excel file in Word.

On a Mac or in Word for the web

Word for Mac: copy and paste works the same way with Command + C and Command + V, and the Paste Options button appears after you paste. For Paste Special, use the menu bar: Edit > Paste Special, then select Paste link and choose a type in the As box. To see or open the workbook a chart is linked to, choose Edit > Links. These Mac steps come from Microsoft’s page on linking and embedding data in Office for Mac. Microsoft also notes that some Paste Special formats exist only in Windows versions.

Word for the web: Microsoft says the tools for copying Excel charts aren’t available in the browser versions. Use the option to open the file in the desktop app so you’re working in the installed version of Word and Excel, then follow the steps above.

Update a linked chart when the data changes

1. Make your changes in Excel and save the workbook.
2. In Word, select the chart.
3. On the Chart Design tab, in the Data group, select Refresh Data. The bars, lines or slices redraw with the new numbers.

To change numbers without leaving Word, select Chart Design > Edit Data. Choose Edit Data for a small grid inside Word or Edit Data in Excel to open the full workbook. With a linked chart, those edits change the source workbook, so save it afterward. When you open a document that contains links, Word may also ask whether to update them; select Yes only if you trust where the workbook came from.

Embedded charts never pick up changes from the original workbook. Use Edit Data to change their numbers, or paste the chart again.

Fix, change or break a link

A linked chart looks for the workbook at the path it had when you copied it. If the file was moved, renamed or deleted, or the document was opened on another computer, the chart can’t refresh.

1. In Word for Windows, select File > Info.
2. Under Related Documents in the right column, select Edit Links to Files. If you don’t see it, the document has no links.
3. In the Links dialog, select the chart’s link.
4. Choose Change Source to point it at the workbook’s new location, Update Now to refresh it, or Break Link to disconnect it permanently.

5. Select OK.

Break Link is permanent. Use it only when the numbers are final, such as before you send a finished report. If you change your mind, copy the chart from Excel and paste it again. To avoid broken links in the first place, keep the workbook and the document in the same folder, or in a shared OneDrive or SharePoint folder that everyone who updates the report can reach. The same ideas apply when you link Excel cells and ranges to Word.

Fit the chart into your document

• Size it in Excel first. A chart sized close to its final width in Excel keeps its text readable in Word. Fixing labels, colors or axes is easier in Excel too; editing a graph in Excel covers those changes.
• Resize from a corner. Drag a corner handle, not a side handle, so the chart doesn’t stretch out of shape.
• Control text wrapping. Select the Layout Options button next to the chart. In Line with Text keeps the chart in place like a large character, which suits formal reports. Square lets text flow around it.
• Center it. With In Line with Text selected, click the chart and select Home > Center.
• Number your figures. Right-click the chart and choose Insert Caption to add “Figure 1” style labels that renumber automatically.

If the chart doesn’t paste correctly

• Only the title or one series pasted: you copied an element inside the chart. Click the chart’s outer border, check that handles surround the whole chart, and copy again.
• The colors or fonts changed: Word applied its theme because the default is Use Destination Theme. Select Paste Options and choose a Keep Source Formatting option. Formatting such as an exploded pie chart slice copies along with the chart, so set it up in Excel first.
• Refresh Data is grayed out or nothing changes: the chart is embedded or a picture, or the workbook can’t be found. Check Edit Links to Files; if the chart isn’t listed there, it isn’t linked.
• “The linked file isn’t available” or a similar error: the workbook moved or is on another computer. Use Change Source, or paste the chart again as embedded or as a picture.
• The Word file got very large: every embedded chart carries workbook data. Replace embedded charts with linked charts or pictures.
• The chart looks blurry when printed: a PNG picture lost sharpness when enlarged. Paste it as Picture (Enhanced Metafile) or keep it as a chart.
• No Paste Options button: it disappears as soon as you start typing. Press Ctrl + Z to undo the paste and paste again, or use Paste Special.

Check what you pasted

Select the chart in Word and look at the ribbon. A Chart Design tab means it’s a chart, either linked or embedded. A Picture Format tab means it’s an image. To tell linked from embedded, open File > Info > Edit Links to Files (or Edit > Links on a Mac): linked charts appear there with their workbook path. To undo a paste you don’t like, press Ctrl + Z right away, or select the chart and press Delete.

Frequently asked questions

Will someone I email the document to see my updates?

Only if they can reach the same workbook. A linked chart refreshes from the file path on the computer that opens it, so a recipient without access sees the chart as it was when you last saved. For outside readers, embed the chart, paste a picture, or break the link before sending.

Can I turn the document into a PDF with the chart intact?

Yes. Word draws the chart into the PDF as it currently appears, so refresh linked charts first. The steps for saving a PDF are in how to convert Word to PDF.

Does the same method work in PowerPoint?

Yes. PowerPoint offers the same five paste options. See linking an Excel chart to PowerPoint for slide-specific tips, or inserting an Excel table into PowerPoint if you need the numbers rather than a chart.

Can I copy the data table along with the chart?

Copy them separately. Select the cells, copy, and paste them into Word, where Paste Options let you keep formatting or link the data. For moving information the other direction, see transferring data from Word to Excel and pasting data into Excel without messy formatting.

Can I make the chart in Word without Excel open?

Yes. In Word, select Insert > Chart, pick a chart type, and type your numbers into the grid that opens. The data is stored inside the document, much like an embedded chart.

Once your first chart is in place, paste a second one the same way and give both captions, so your report’s figures stay numbered as you add more.