When you want to create a dynamic link between the content of your document and the content in a PowerPoint presentation, insert the content as an object. Unlike when you paste content (such as by pressing Ctrl+V), when you insert it as a linked or embedded object, you can still work with the content in the original program where it was created.
If you insert the slide into the document as a PowerPoint object, Word runs PowerPoint when you double-click the slide, and you can use PowerPoint commands to work with the slide.
When you insert an entire PowerPoint presentation as an object, the document displays only one slide. To display different slides, double-click the PowerPoint object, and then press Enter to run the slide show.
Insert a linked object or embedded object
You can link or embed one or more slides, or you can embed an entire presentation. When you embed a PowerPoint presentation object in your document, Word runs the PowerPoint slide show when you double-click the presentation object in the document. You cannot edit the presentation within the document. The presentation object can be embedded only, not linked.
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Open both the Word document and the PowerPoint presentation that contains the slides that you want to create a linked object or embedded object from.
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Switch to PowerPoint, and then select the entire presentation or the slides that you want.
Note: To select slides, in Slide Sorter view, click the slide that you want. To select a range of slides, hold down Shift while you click the first and the last slides of the range. To select multiple slides that are not next to each other, hold down Ctrl while you click the slides that you want.
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Press Ctrl+C.
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Switch to the Word document, and then click where you want the information to appear.
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On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click the arrow under Paste, and then click Paste Special.
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In the As list, select Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation object or Microsoft PowerPoint Slide object.
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Select Paste to insert an embedded object, or select Paste link to insert a link to the object, and then click OK.
Alternatively, you can insert a link to the object as follows.
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On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click the arrow next to Object, and then select Object.
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Click the Create from File tab, and browse to the location of your presentation.
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Select Link to file or Display as icon, and then click OK.
Update linked objects
By default, linked objects are updated automatically. This means that Word updates the linked information every time you open the Word file or any time the source PowerPoint file changes while the Word file is open. However, you can change the settings for individual linked objects so that the linked object is not updated or so that it is updated only when the reader of your document chooses to manually update it.
You can also prevent Word from automatically updating links in all the documents that you open. You can do this as a security measure, to prevent updating documents with files that are potentially from an untrusted source.
Important: When you open a document that contains linked objects, Word prompts you to update the document with data from the linked files. If you suspect that the linked files may be from an untrusted source, click No in this message.
In addition, you can permanently break the connection between a linked object and its source PowerPoint file. When the connection is broken, you can no longer edit the object in the document; it becomes a picture of the PowerPoint content.
Manually update a linked object
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Right-click the linked object, click Linked Slide Object or Linked Presentation Object, and then click Links.
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Click the link that you want to update manually, and then under Update method for selected link, click Manual update.
Prevent a linked object from being updated
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Right-click the linked object, click Linked Slide Object or Linked Presentation Object, and then click Links.
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Click the link that you want to prevent from being updated, and then under Update method for selected link, select the Locked check box.
Note: To unlock the link, clear the Locked check box.
Prevent Word from automatically updating links in all documents
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On the File tab, click Options..
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Click Advanced, and then scroll down to General.
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Clear the Update automatic links at open check box.
Break the connection between a linked object and its source
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Right-click the linked object, click Linked Slide Object or Linked Presentation Object, and then click Links.
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Click the link that you want to disconnect, and then click Break Link.
Change linked or embedded objects
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Right-click the linked object, and then click Linked Slide Object or Linked Presentation Object.
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Click Open or Open Link, depending on whether the object is embedded or linked, and then make the changes that you want.
If the object is embedded, the changes are only in the copy that is in the document. If the object is linked, the changes are made to the source file.
The main differences between linked objects and embedded objects are where the data is stored and how you update the data after you place it in the destination file.
You place either a link to the object or a copy of the object in the document. You can insert content this way from any program that supports the technology of linking and embedding objects (object linking and embedding, or OLE).
For example, a monthly status report may contain information that is separately maintained in a PowerPoint slide. If you link the report to the slide, the data in the report can be updated whenever the source file is updated. If you embed the slide in the report, your report contains a static copy of the data.
1. Embedded object
2. Linked object
3. Source file
When an object is linked, information can be updated if the source file is modified. Linked data is stored in the source file. The Word file, or destination file, stores only the location of the source file, and it displays a representation of the linked data. Use linked objects if file size is a consideration.
Linking is also useful when you want to include information that is maintained independently, such as data collected by a different department, and when you need to keep that information up-to-date in a Word document.
When you embed a PowerPoint object, information in the Word file doesn't change if you modify the source PowerPoint file. Embedded objects become part of the Word file and, after they are inserted, they are no longer part of the source file.
Because the information is totally contained in one Word document, embedding is useful when you don't want the information to reflect changes in the source file, or when you don't want the document recipients to be concerned with updating the linked information.
