📎 This article includes 2 downloadable practice files ↓

Monthly review decks usually have the same 15 charts with new numbers. If you paste them as pictures, you rebuild the deck every month. Paste them as links instead and the deck updates itself.

Paste as a link

1. In Excel, select the chart and press Ctrl+C.
2. In PowerPoint: Home → Paste → Paste Special → Paste link → Microsoft Excel Chart Object.
   Or from the paste options icon choose Keep Source Formatting & Link Data.

Right-click the chart → Update Link pulls the latest numbers. When you open the deck, PowerPoint may ask “Update links?” — choose Update Links.

Refresh every link with a macro

For a deck with many links, run this from PowerPoint (Alt+F11, Insert → Module):

Sub RefreshAllLinks()
    Dim sld As Slide, shp As Shape, n As Long
    For Each sld In ActivePresentation.Slides
        For Each shp In sld.Shapes
            If shp.Type = msoLinkedOLEObject Or shp.Type = msoLinkedPicture Then
                shp.LinkFormat.Update
                n = n + 1
            ElseIf shp.HasChart Then
                If shp.Chart.ChartData.IsLinked Then
                    shp.Chart.ChartData.Activate
                    shp.Chart.Refresh
                    shp.Chart.ChartData.Workbook.Close
                    n = n + 1
                End If
            End If
        Next shp
    Next sld
    MsgBox n & " linked objects refreshed", vbInformation
End Sub

When links break

• File moved or renamed: File → Info → Edit Links to Files → Change Source.
• Sharing the deck: links point to your drive. Before emailing, either share the Excel file too, or break links (Edit Links → Break Link) to freeze the numbers.
• Slow opening: set links to Manual update in Edit Links and refresh only when needed.

Try it yourself: step by step

1. Download chart-data.xlsx and refresh-links.bas. Save the workbook somewhere permanent first (links remember the path).
2. In Excel click the chart → Ctrl+C. In PowerPoint: Home → Paste → Paste Special → Paste link.
3. Back in Excel change March revenue to 999 and save.
4. In PowerPoint right-click the chart → Update Link — the bar jumps.
5. For many charts: Alt+F11 in PowerPoint → File → Import File → refresh-links.bas → run RefreshAllLinks.