How to Import Data from Excel to Word

It's no secret that Microsoft Excel is the most functional and convenient application for working with tables. Of course, it is much easier to create tables in Excel than in Word, which is intended for other purposes. But sometimes a table made in this spreadsheet editor needs to be transferred to a text document. Let's figure out how to transfer a table from Microsoft Excel to Word.

The easiest way to transfer a table from one Microsoft program to another is to simply copy and paste it.

So, open the table in Microsoft Excel and select it completely. After that, call up the context menu with the right mouse button and select “Copy”. You can also click the button with the same name on the ribbon. Alternatively, you can simply type Ctrl+C on your keyboard.

After the table has been copied, open Microsoft Word. This can be either a completely blank document or a document with already typed text into which a table should be inserted. We select a place to insert, right-click on the place where we are going to insert the table. In the context menu that appears, select the item “Keep source formatting” in the paste options. But, as with copying, pasting can be done by clicking on the corresponding button on the ribbon. This button is called “Insert” and is located at the very beginning of the ribbon. Also, there is a way to paste a table from the clipboard by simply typing the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+V, or even better, Shift+Insert.

The disadvantage of this method is that if the table is too wide, it may not fit into the boundaries of the sheet. Therefore, this method is only suitable for tables of suitable size. At the same time, this option is good because you can continue to freely edit the table as you like and make changes to it, even after inserting it into a Word document.

Copy using Paste Special

Another way in which you can transfer a table from Microsoft Excel to Word is paste special.

We open the table in Microsoft Excel and copy it using one of the methods that were indicated in the previous transfer option: through the context menu, through a button on the ribbon, or by pressing the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+C.

Then, open the Word document in Microsoft Word. Select the place where you want to insert the table. Then, click on the drop-down list icon under the “Insert” button on the ribbon. Select “Paste Special” from the drop-down menu.

The Paste Special window opens. We move the switch to the “Link” position, and from the proposed insertion options, select the “Microsoft Excel Sheet (object)” item. Click on the “OK” button.

After this, the table is inserted into a Microsoft Word document as a drawing. This method is good because even if the table is wide, it is compressed to fit the page. The disadvantages of this method include the fact that you cannot edit the table in Word, since it is inserted as an image.

Inserting from a file

The third method does not involve opening the file in Microsoft Excel at all. Let's start Word right away. First of all, you need to go to the “Insert” tab. On the ribbon in the “Text” tool block, click on the “Object” button.

The Insert Object window opens. Go to the “Create from File” tab and click on the “Browse” button.

A window opens where you need to find the Excel file from which you want to insert a table. After you have found the file, click on it and click on the “Insert” button.

After this, we return to the “Insert Object” window again. As you can see, the address of the required file is already entered in the appropriate form. All we have to do is click on the “OK” button.

After this, the table is displayed in a Microsoft Word document.

But, you need to take into account that, as in the previous case, the table is inserted as an image. In addition, unlike the options described above, the entire contents of the file are inserted in their entirety. There is no way to select a specific table or range. Therefore, if there is something in the Excel file, other than the table, that you do not want to see after transferring it to Word format, you need to correct or delete these elements in the Microsoft Excel application before you start converting the table.

We looked at various ways to transfer a table from an Excel file to a Word document. As you can see, there are quite a few different methods, although not all of them are convenient, and others are limited in capabilities. Therefore, before choosing a specific option, you need to decide why you need the transferred table, whether you plan to edit it in Word, and other nuances. If you just want to print a document with a table inserted, then inserting an image will do just fine. But, if you plan to change the data in the table already in a Word document, then in this case, you definitely need to transfer the table in an editable form.

If you need to transfer information consisting of data of a similar format, for example, a list of telephone numbers or addresses, you can use the import function, which is provided in Microsoft Office programs.

Import data

First, make sure that all data has the same formatting (same font, correct punctuation, etc.). This will ensure that the imported data is placed as correctly as possible. Enable the display of all formatting marks in the “Paragraph” tab by clicking on the corresponding icon. In a formatted list, you'll find a paragraph mark at the end of each line, or at the end of a line, and one on the blank line between items. You will use these characters to insert characters, which will then move into the appropriate cells. If a list uses a blank line paragraph between items, you must remove it or the import may fail. To do this, simultaneously hold down the Ctrl+H keys. In the window that appears, in the “Find” field, enter a special character, for example, “~”. You can find the paragraph symbol to replace in the “more>>” menu, selecting the “special” item, and in it - “Paragraph mark”. If you see that the text has a paragraph both at the end and between elements, select Paragraph Mark twice. After you have completed all the steps, click on the “Replace All” button. The elements of the processed list will be combined with each other.

Setting the correct formatting

After setting up the display of inventory items in sequential lines, you need to designate the specific data that will be displayed in the Excel fields. If your list contains, for example, a name or physical address on the first line, then you need to replace the remaining paragraph marks (^p) with a comma (,). They will then be replaced with commas, thereby formatting specific strings into separate fields.

As you noticed, your list now looks like a continuous line consisting of symbols and letters, divided into fragments by commas. We need to return this data to the form of a list. Again, open the “Find and Replace” tab, enter the previously selected character (for us it is “~”) and in the “Replace with” field select the paragraph mark. Click on the “Replace All” button.

Formatting is complete and you need to save the document as a text file. It is in this format that Excel will study and correctly place the data between the fields. In the upper left corner, open the "File" tab and select "Save As". In the File Type drop-down menu, select Plain Text. Name your document and save it to any disk. In some cases, you may be presented with a Convert File window. There is nothing to change there; complete the action by clicking “Ok”.

Go to Excel and in the “File” tab, select “Open”. The drop-down menu is usually set to "All Excel files". You need to change this setting and select "Text Files". Then mark your document. In the “Text Wizard” window that appears, you need to go to the next page by clicking “Next”, find “Field delimiters” and enter a comma there. Click Next again and then OK. If you did everything correctly, the individual categories of your data will appear in different fields. Then, if you wish, you can customize the borders, fonts and fills in the table.

Converting a table created in Word

You can also convert the data using Word and then transfer it to Excel. Select all the text you want to convert and in the Insert tab, select Table. More modern versions of Word have built-in templates, such as a calendar, matrix, or double table. In addition, you can draw or insert an Excel format table into your document. The simplest option would be to select the number of columns and rows, which you will immediately see when you open the “Table” menu. Select the table using Ctrl+C and copy it. After that, open Excel and check the box where the top left cell of the table will be located. Paste using the Ctrl+V keys or select the “Paste” command from the context menu by right-clicking.

If the imported data simultaneously includes several identical criteria (name of city, region, postal code), then they can fall into one cell. However, Excel allows you to make the correct settings. First, select the column you want to format. Find the “Data” tab, and in it - “Text by Columns”. Click "Next" and in the next menu, select comma and space as the delimiter character. After you agree to change the parameters, a window will appear with approximately the following content: “There is already data here, do you want to replace it?” We answer OK and watch how the criterion from one column moves to the next.

Both programs make it possible to easily create tables, and, if necessary, transfer information from one to another without losing data. Now you know how to convert a Word document to Excel.

Any user of the Microsoft office suite knows that the basic Word and Excel programs differ quite strongly and it is not possible to directly open documents created in one program using another, since Word is more of a test editor, although it can work with other types of data , and Excel is designed to work with tables and calculations. Nevertheless, the question of how to convert a Word document to Excel or vice versa is solved through the use of special data import functions. Let's consider both options. Having an algorithm of actions, this problem is not difficult to solve.

How to convert Excel to Word and vice versa: the basics

Since the programs differ quite noticeably from each other, the user often faces the problem of data conversion. Even when using the simplest methods, it is believed that both documents should have the same formatting, because the structure of the imported material may be disrupted when inserted.

But these applications also have common ground - tables. With them the situation is quite simple. If importing data from does not look as difficult as the reverse conversion, therefore the original problem of how to convert Excel to Word while completely preserving the data structure is often insoluble for many novice users.

The simplest technique

First, let's consider the simplest option, which the Internet community calls “copy-paste” (a combination of the English terms copy and paste, or, more simply, “copy” - “paste”).

Of course, the question of how to convert a Word file to Excel can be solved in such a primitive way. However, here you need to clearly understand that in this option, only text data is copied, which can be pasted from Word only into one Excel cell. If you need to place text in different cells, you will have to copy the text in fragments.

You can also insert Excel data into Word using this method, but they will be presented in the form of a table, and the Excel sheet data may not always fit onto the Word page. Therefore, this technique is often unacceptable.

Working with tables

How to convert a Word table to Excel? There are several options here. From the Word test editor, exporting data to Excel is much easier than vice versa.

In the simplest case, you just need to select a Word table, copy the data to the clipboard and paste it into Excel. All information will be automatically distributed among the cells, as in the previous structure. But here an unpleasant surprise awaits the user. For example, there are two cells with different data that must have a common description. In a Word table, cells are merged to avoid entering a value twice. But when inserted into Excel, they will be automatically split, so that the description will correspond to only one initial value. To prevent this from happening, you need to use the End Cell Format section in Excel's Paste Options while preserving the original formatting.

Importing Excel data into Word

Now let's see how to convert Excel to Word. The usual insertion method, as is already clear, is not suitable.

The following technology is used here. We copy the data into Excel, then in Word from the file menu we use the paste command and select linking using final styles for Word 2010 or paste special for Word 2007 with subsequent linking. In the linking method, select the Excel sheet and click the “OK” button.

Another technique that allows you to solve the problem of how to convert Excel to Word is to use the conversion to text command in a spreadsheet editor indicating the formatting method (for this, a tab is used to create a single section, a space is used to separating data into paragraphs, etc.). Only after this is copying done using paste special in Word.

Conclusion

As can be seen from the above, the procedure itself for converting documents from one application into the format of another is not particularly difficult. Finally, it is worth noting that methods that allow, for example, importing tabular data in a text editor, when the Excel table is initially inserted as a graphic object, were not considered here. If the question is formulated this way, the inserted table will not be editable and you will not be able to work with such data. This only makes sense in cases where changes to information are not intended initially. But the method of converting one type of data into another using the simplest tools shown above is suitable for any user. Yes, and don’t believe those who claim that this type of conversion can be done using converters. Such programs do not exist in nature. And if they do exist, they are very primitive ones, from which you will not achieve the desired result.

First, you need to understand how the application converts the document. When you import a document into Excel, the program determines what piece of information will be placed in a specific table cell by using certain characters in the text. By formatting the data in the document before importing, you can control the appearance of the resulting table and minimize the need to manually format the document. This method is useful if you need to import a large list from a Word document into an Excel spreadsheet.

• This method is especially effective if you are importing a list of several items of the same format (list of addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and so on).

Check the document for formatting errors. Before you begin the conversion process, make sure that all list items have the same formatting. If necessary, correct possible punctuation errors or rearrange elements that do not match the rest. This will ensure correct data transfer.

It’s the other way around, but still cases of reverse transfer are also not so rare. For example, sometimes you need to transfer a table made in Word to Excel in order to calculate the data using the table editor functionality. Let's find out what methods of moving tables in this direction exist.

The easiest way to move a table is by simply copying it. To do this, select the table in Word, right-click on the page, and select “Copy” from the context menu that appears. You can instead click on the “Copy” button, which is located at the top of the ribbon. Another option involves, after selecting the table, pressing Ctrl+C on the keyboard.

So we copied the table. Now we need to paste it into an Excel sheet. Launch Microsoft Excel. Click on the cell in the place of the sheet where we want to place the table. It should be noted that this cell will become the top leftmost cell of the table being inserted. This is exactly what you need to proceed from when planning the placement of the table.

Right-click on the sheet, and in the context menu in the insert options, select “Keep source formatting.” You can also insert a table by clicking on the “Insert” button located on the left edge of the ribbon. Or, there is an option to type the key combination Ctrl+V on the keyboard.

After this, the table will be inserted into a Microsoft Excel sheet. The worksheet cells may not match the inserted table cells. Therefore, to make the table look presentable, they should be stretched.

Import table

Also, there is a more complex way to transfer a table from Word to Excel by importing data.

Open the table in Word. Let's select it. Next, go to the “Layout” tab, and in the “Data” tool group on the ribbon, click on the “Convert to Text” button.

The conversion options window opens. In the “Separator” parameter, the switch should be set to the “Tab character” position. If this is not the case, move the switch to this position and click on the “OK” button.

Go to the “File” tab. Select “Save as...”.

In the window that opens for saving the document, indicate the desired location of the file that you are going to save, and also assign it a name if the default name does not satisfy you. Although, given that the saved file will only be an intermediate file for transferring the table from Word to Excel, there is no particular point in changing the name. The main thing to do is to set the “Plain Text” option in the “File Type” field. Click on the “Save” button.

The file conversion window opens. You don’t need to make any changes here, you just need to remember the encoding in which you save the text. Click on the “OK” button.

After this, launch the Microsoft Excel program. Go to the “Data” tab. In the “Get external data” settings block on the ribbon, click on the “From text” button.

The text file import window opens. We look for the file that we saved earlier in Word, select it, and click on the “Import” button.

After this, the Text Wizard window opens. In the data format settings, specify the “Delimited” option. We set the encoding according to the one in which you saved the text document in Word. In most cases it will be "1251: Cyrillic (Windows)". Click on the “Next” button.

In the next window, in the “Separator character is” setting, set the switch to the “Tab character” position, if it is not selected by default. Click on the “Next” button.

In the last window of the Text Wizard, you can format the data in the columns based on their content. We select a specific column in the Data Parsing Sample, and in the column data format settings, select one of four options:

• general;
• text;
• date of;
• skip column.

We perform a similar operation for each column separately. When formatting is complete, click on the “Finish” button.

After this, the data import window opens. In the field, manually specify the address of the cell, which will be the uppermost left cell of the inserted table. If you find it difficult to do this manually, then click on the button to the right of the field.

In the window that opens, simply select the desired cell. Then, click on the button to the right of the data entered in the field.

Returning to the data import window, click on the “OK” button.

As you can see, the table has been inserted.

Above we presented two ways to transfer a table from Word to Excel. The first method is much simpler than the second, and the entire procedure takes much less time. At the same time, the second method guarantees the absence of extra characters or cell displacement, which is quite possible when transferring using the first method. So, to decide on the transfer option, you need to start from the complexity of the table and its purpose.