Embedding vs. Linking an Object in a MS Word Document

© Ugur Akinci
You can insert objects into a MS Word document in two ways:

  1. By embedding them, and by
  2. Linking them.

If you embed an object, when the source object is changed, the Word object will NOT change.
If you link an object, when the source object is changed, the Word object WILL change.
Here is an example:
MS Excel OBJECT EMBEDDED in MS WORD
Even though they look the same, there is a big difference between these two Excel objects that you can see immediately by changing the Excel source object.
Here is the original Excel source file modified as follows:
MS Excel OBJECT EMBEDDED in MS WORD 2
And here is what happened back in the Word document:
MS Excel OBJECT EMBEDDED in MS WORD 3
The embedded object remained the same but the link one changed immediately, reflecting all the changes made back in Excel.
LESSON: for automatic updates, link your Word objects to their original source files; do not embed them.

1 Comment

  1. will savacool on April 19, 2012 at 2:57 pm

    This is nice and all, but HOW do you link in an object? Does this work for pictures?