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:

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:

And here is what happened back in the Word document:

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.