How to insert attachments in Excel

Do you ever need to insert files into Excel to share more detailed information with your co-workers? Whether it's inserting PDFs or Word documents, it seems simple enough: just click on Insert, Text, Object, choose your file, and voilà!

But then what? Your file ends up floating around your spreadsheet, not anchored to a specific cell. To sort or move it along with the rest of your data, what you really need is to place it within a single cell. So, how can you do this? Not to mention the exponentional size of your spreadsheet.

In this brief article, we'll explore:

1. How Excel can handle attachments as well as possible
2. An alternative, RowShare, an online table that offers a great alternative when it comes to handle attachments.

Insert Files into Excel

To insert a file in an Excel worksheet, follow these steps:

1. Select the cell into which you want to insert your file
2. Click on the “Insert” tab
3. Click on “Object” under the “Text” group
4. Select “Create from File”
5. Browse your file
6. Select the “Display as icon” check box to if you want to insert an icon linking to the files
7. Click on OK

Once you have made it to insert your documents into Excel, you will come to realize that what you actually need is to insert each file into a single cell. Otherwise, they're juste floating over your spreadsheet and move as soon as you filter, sort, insert new data...

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Resize your file or cell until the file fits into the cell
2. Right click on your file and select “Format Object”
3. Click on the “Properties” tab
4. Select “Move and size with cells”

This has to be done one by one for all files that you want to attach in Excel. Also, since your Excel file size will be the size of the sheet itself plus the size of all files attached, it will quickly grow.

At this point, you have probably realized that it could work for a one-time task, for a few files. But if you're after a long term solution, Excel is not a great host for your files.

This is where we'd like to introduce RowShare.

Attach files easily with RowShare

It’s time to say goodbye to complicated spreadsheet and endless email exchange. RowShare, an online table focusing in sharing and collaboration, offers a simpler solution. You can insert attachments within a click of a mouse! Let's be clear: RowShare will never replace Excel, but could be a great alternative for specific use cases such as spreadsheets that include attachments.

In RowShare, adding files is super simple:

1. Add a column of type “File” to your table
2. Click on any cell in that column, select your file and that's it!

You can also control your table and files the way you want it, from sorting, filtering, setting columns as read only, you name it. If needed, you can even control who can access which rows and columns.

It couldn’t be any simpler, here is a quick video if you need help:

When it comes to collecting, centralizing and sharing data with your coworkers, partners, suppliers, clients, RowShare is a real time-saver!

‍Tip: If you already have an existing Excel file, import it to RowShare and start uploading attachments.

Once you have finished adjusting your table in RowShare, you can then synchronize it with Excel to access the best features of both tools. Keep in mind that in Excel, instead of having the attachment itself, you will have the link to the file.