Attach documents to a word document

Is this article up to date?

The process used to attach files in Microsoft Word is straightforward. Attachments can serve a variety of purposes, including as resources for professional papers and presentations. Using attachments creates a dynamic document with easy access to related media that is relevant to the content. Attachments are not common in Word documents, but they are useful tools.

Attach PDF Files to Word

PDF files are easy to insert into a Word document as attachments with the use of an icon. The icon acts as a link that opens the attached PDF. This is a useful feature for consolidating documents that are all related but intentionally separate. An employee handbook is one example where a variety of documents with contracts, guidelines, company policies and other related information can all live in one document with attachments.

The steps for attaching a PDF file are simple. Investintech advises to click «Insert» in the top toolbar and then click the «Object» option. Next, click the «Create from File» tab and choose to either link to the file or insert it as an icon. Inserting a document into Word as an icon makes for an easy to identify the link, but using an actual link is also effective.

Click «Browse» and locate the PDF file you want to attach. Click «OK» at the bottom, and the file is attached as a link or icon based on your chosen preference. When a user clicks this link, the file opens.

Attaching the Word Document to Email

After adding attachments and completing the Word document, you can attach the final file to an email for sharing. Despite having attachments within the file, it still attaches and loads to an email normally. Make sure the Word document is saved and named in an easy-to-find location on your computer. This makes it available for use at any time.

You can remove the attachments in the Word document by highlighting and deleting them. In the event that the document requires revisions or updates, the attachments are easy to phase out or replace.

Insert a Document

This method is not an attachment but more of a means to bring the content from an exterior document into a Word document. Microsoft Support refers to the process as inserting a document in Word, but it’s really pulling that information from the outside source to the Word document. You can grab chunks of information or the entire content source and transfer that information to a specific placement in your Word document.

While not a common tool, it remains valuable for several functions. For example, a writer might create a different Word file for each chapter of a book. When creating the final product, the writer may pull each chapter into a master document using this method. This helps with the segmentation and organization of the project.

To get started, open the Word document and click on the space where you want to add the exterior content. Click «Insert» on the toolbar and click the drop-down menu next to «Object.» Select «Text from File,» and a new dialogue box opens with access to the computer files. Choose the file with the desired text, and Word pulls the text into your document.

Inserting a document

You can insert the content of previously-created Word documents into a new or different Word document.

1. Click or tap where you want to insert the content of the existing document.

2. Go to Insert and select the arrow next to Object .

3. Select Text from File.

   

4. Locate the file that you want and then double-click it.

5. To add in the contents of additional Word documents, repeat the above steps as needed.

Important: If you want to insert the header and footer also, be sure to insert the text from the file in a new section so that the header and footer are applied to only those pages. For more info on sections, see Insert a section break.

Digital documents are the number one staple behind any company or workflow.  And everyone shares them whether by email, cloud services, or URL. But do you ever wonder if there’s an even easier way to bundle your documents together? Short answer: yes, there is.

Attaching or embedding PDFs in Word documents can be an even quicker alternative than email attachments. It’s also a dead simple way to combine PDF and Word content together.

Think of PDF documents that contain file attachments. You have everything you need in that one single file and there’s no need to go back to the email for the other attachments.  Doing the same with a Word document can be just as convenient. It can be helpful in situations where you need to:

• Attach legal PDF documents as an appendix
• Quickly access PDF forms, reports, contract terms, or brochures
• Provide extra working drafts or updates to colleagues in business  proposals
• Access or provide PDF resources as reference for papers you’re writing

Embedding a PDF document within MS Word is a popular and sought-after tip. With digital documents becoming more important these days, it’s a handy and helpful method to keep in mind.

To keep highly related PDF and Word files neatly together, follow these steps:

In Microsoft Word, place your cursor where you’d like the PDF to be located. Then,

1. Go to the Insert tab > Object.

2. In the Object dialog, go to the Create from File tab

3. Click on Browse. Search and select the PDF file you wish to embed.

4. Select Display as icon and leave Link to file unchecked. You can choose to change the icon if you wish.

5. Click on OK.

As you can see, the PDF appears right inside your Word document, and can be opened in your PDF viewer of choice. Know of any other methods for combining Word and PDF files together? Let us know!

Word allows you to insert other files with data and functionality from another document or program directly into your Word document.

Microsoft calls these additions ‘Objects’ which makes it sound overly technical and difficult but it’s not. Don’t get fazed by all the nerd talk about ‘objects’, that’s programmer speak that’s leaked out into the real world.

Whenever you see the word ‘Object’ think ‘Another file’.

Objects are just other files or sometimes, parts of other files.  Word or text files, graphs, Excel worksheets, PDF’s, PowerPoint files or a lot more.

You can either create a new object within your Word document or insert an existing file. You can also choose to either embed or link the object.

Embedding

Embedding an object just takes a snapshot or copy of the file at the time you embedded it. If you later change the original file, the changes are not reflected in your document.

• Use this to keep a copy of the file at a particular time like end of financial year or when contract is finalized.
• Embedding can also hide files and documents from prying eyes, that’s explained in our ebook Beating Bots, Spies and Cock-ups.

Linking

Linking an object creates a live link to the original file. If you make changes to the original file, the changes will appear in the object in your Word document.   See Putting Excel into Word

To insert an object in Word, go to Insert | Object.

Insert all the Text from Another File

If you have another text document, such as another Word file, plain text file, or even a PDF file, you can easily insert all of the text from that file into your document.

To do this, select the Text from File option.

The Insert File dialog will open for you to navigate to the file that you want to insert.

NOTES:

• The content will be inserted along with all its formatting from the source file. If the original is a large, complex document, this may take some time.
• If you select a PDF document, Word will do the best it can to convert it into Word, along with all its formatting. It may not look exactly like the original file, especially if the source file contains a lot of graphics. Very complex PDF files may take excessive time or may not be able to be imported.

Insert a New Object

To insert any other kind of object other than a text file, select the Object option.

The Object dialog will open with the Create New tab selected by default. You will see that there is an extensive list of object types available to choose from. In this example we will choose to insert a new Excel worksheet in the document.

An Excel worksheet will appear in the document, and the Excel ribbon and tools will appear above it, just as if you are working in an Excel file.

You can now drag the edges to show as much of the worksheet as you wish, enter whatever data, and perform whatever functions you wish within the worksheet.

When you’re done, click anywhere outside the object, and the Excel ribbon will disappear, but the worksheet will still appear as a table in your document. You can then double-click within the object to enter and edit it again.

NOTES:

• When you insert a new object in this way, you can click within the object any time to edit it.
• If the Excel worksheet contains more data than fits in the visible window in your document, the part that you have visible when you click out of the object is what will appear in your document when you click out of the object.

Embed an Existing Object

To insert an existing object in your document, click the Create from File tab in the Object dialog and browse to the file you want to insert.

A section of the file will appear in the document, and the reader can double-click on it to open it and view the whole file. The part of the file that displays in the document varies depending on the type of file:

• A PowerPoint presentation will show the first slide only. Double-clicking will allow the reader to click through the whole presentation.
• An Excel file with multiple worksheets will display the worksheet that was open the last time the file was saved. Double-clicking will give access to all worksheets.
• A PDF file will display the first page of the document. (Unlike the Insert Text from File option, with this method the inserted object will still be a PDF file, not converted to Word.)

PowerPoint presentation embedded in a Word document

An Excel worksheet embedded in a Word document

For more see Putting Excel into Word

NOTES:

• An embedded object is just a snapshot of the file at the time you embedded it. It no longer has any link to the original file, and any subsequent changes made to the original will have no effect on the object in your document.
• If the object is an editable file, such as an Excel file, you can edit it after you have inserted it. Double-click on the object, and the interface of the original application will open within your document, just as described above for inserting a new object.

Link an Existing Object

To embed an object and maintain a live link between it and the original file, again, select the Create from File tab in the Object dialog, but this time also click the “Link to file” box.

The object will appear in the document just like an embedded object, but with one big difference. In this case, if any changes are made to the original file, those changes will be reflected in the object in your document. You also will not be able to edit the object in the document – double-clicking on, for example, an Excel object will open the original Excel document in a separate window.

Refreshing the Link

Sometimes a change to the original file will not immediately appear in the object in your document. To ensure that you are looking at the latest information, right-click on the object and select Update Link.

Displaying an Icon Instead of the Object

There is one more choice in the Object dialog that we have not touched on yet. Whether you are inserting a new object, or embedding or linking an existing object, you have the option to just display an icon in your document rather then the object itself. The reader or editor can then click on the icon to open the file to view or edit it.

By default, the icon for the program the file is created in will show, but you can click Change Icon and choose your own icon file to use instead. The Change Icon button also allows you to edit the caption that appears under the icon in your document.

Inserted objects displayed as icons