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excel: copy as picture -> word: paste link doesn´t work in Microsoft® Excel for Mac and Microsoft® Word for Mac

Daniel Neves 0 Reputation points
2025-12-10T13:05:15.04+00:00

copy as picture in excel and then paste link in word doesn´t work. After copy as picture + As shown on screen I move to Word and Paste Special + Paste Link + Picture (TIFF) and get "The specified data type is unavailable" or simply nothing happens, it doesn´t paste and gives no error message.
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I have tried to have the files locally or in google drive or in onedrive and have always the same behavior.

Also tried standard copy and paste special -> Paste Link -> Microsoft Excel Worksheet Object and in this case I get: "Word cannot obtain the data for the {00020830-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} link."
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Version of Microsoft® Excel for Mac: 16.103.4 (25120717)
Version of Microsoft® Word for Mac: 16.103.4 (25120717)

Version of MAC: Sequoia 15.6 (24G84)

Anyone have any solution for this?
Thanks

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | MacOS
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  1. Edward Schlobohm01 9,240 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-12-10T14:17:34.2233333+00:00

    Hi,

    Thanks for sharing. This is a known limitation on Office for Mac 16.103 with macOS Sequoia. Paste Special → Paste Link from Excel to Word often fails for TIFF images and OLE-linked objects because Word for Mac can’t resolve Excel’s OLE class. These features work on Windows but are broken or limited on Mac.

    Here's my recommendation, best workaround: export your Excel range as PNG or PDF, then insert it in Word using Insert → Picture → From File and check Link to File. Updating the file lets Word refresh without OLE errors. If linking isn’t critical, just copy and paste the picture manually. For live text updates, use Paste Link → Unformatted Text instead.

    There’s no full fix yet—update Office to the latest build and keep the source workbook open for better reliability. More details here:

    https://v4.hkg1.meaqua.org/en-ca/answers/questions/5027182/paste-as-link-excel-%29-ppt-not-available-%28office-36

    Hope this helps! Let me know how it goes.

    Kind regards

    Edward

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