How do I attach an Excel file to an email in Outlook?

If you use Microsoft Office's productivity tools like Word or PowerPoint on a regular basis, then it’s likely that at some point you have found yourself needing to send someone else an attachment from one of those programs.  This is especially true if you are collaborating with others who may not be using the same program as you. If this happens often enough, you might consider setting up attachments within your email messages so they don't need to download them separately later. This way all parties will receive the file without issue. In this article we'll show you how to set up attachments in Outlook 2007/2010 and 2010/2013.

We've already covered many ways to insert documents into emails inside of Outlook (see our guide here) but sometimes there may be times when you want to attach something other than just a document. We're going to cover three different scenarios where attaching an Excel worksheet comes in handy: sharing spreadsheets between coworkers, sending out group reports via email, and creating collaborative charts that include data from several people.

Let's get started!

How do I share an Excel spreadsheet in Outlook?

First off, let's create a new.xlsm file by right-clicking " New" under Personal Folders -" Other Sources and select WorkBook. You should see your newly created spreadsheet appear underneath My Documents. Right click on the folder and choose Properties. Change the Customize Ribbon button dropdown menu to Main Tabs only. Now go back to your desktop and open up Outlook. Go to the Insert tab and scroll down until you find Sheet Attachments in the Controls section. Click on Add controls... Choose either Picture Library or Windows Media Player depending on what type of media you would prefer to import. Finally, browse through the list of available options until you find Excel Spreadsheet Object which displays a preview of your attached file. Select this option and check the Allow box next to OK. Press OK again and you should now see the image display in your message window.

Now you know how to add an Excel sheet as an attachment in Outlook 2007 and 2010. But what about 2010 and 2013? Let's take a look at another method.

How do I share an Excel workbook in Outlook?

The above technique doesn't really apply anymore because Excel no longer creates its own format (.xlsb). Instead, you must save your workbooks first in order to make sure that your recipients will actually be able to view them properly. To change the default extension of your saved file(s), go to Tools-" Options-" Save & Backup. Under General, change the Default Format dropdown menu to Application (*.xls). Then go ahead and close the dialog box. Next time you try to access an older version of Excel, it will automatically prompt you to download the latest update when opening a previous file. The next step follows pretty much the exact same procedure as before except instead of choosing Insert in the Control Panel, you'll pick Open in [your browser] after clicking Add controls.... Browse around until you see Excel Document and hit OK. Your file will now load directly into the main editor pane once selected.

You could also try downloading XLSX Viewer. It converts XLM and XLSB files to XML while retaining compatibility with earlier versions of Excel. However, keep in mind that even though it supports newer formats, it still cannot read old macros due to security restrictions placed upon them. Also, unlike most apps, it does not support saving in various languages such as English, French and German.

Keep in mind that these methods both require you to manually copy and paste each individual cell onto your recipient's computer rather than having everything loaded into memory at once. If you'd like to avoid doing that, you can always opt to create a shared network drive accessible to everyone. That way you won't have to worry about running out of space or being unable to store large files locally.

How do I share an Excel File with multiple users?

Suppose you have been assigned the task of preparing a report for distribution among a team of employees. Rather than manually copying over every single person's information, why not simply export the entire thing into an Excel workbook and distribute it that way? Once opened, anyone can edit and modify whatever they wish provided that their changes aren't conflicting with existing formulas or calculations. All users would only need to run a couple quick commands to accomplish this feat. First, head over to File-" Info-" Protect Sheets. Check the box beside Active Worksheets Only. Hit OK. Second, navigate to Home-" Normal Page Setup-" Defined Ranges. Highlight the range containing your header information and press Ctrl+C to Copy Selected Cells. Third, highlight the cells you copied previously and press F2. Type =unique() and hit enter. Fourth, head back to your original location and press Shift+F3 to Paste Special.. Under Pasting Formulas select Values. Lastly, press Enter to execute the formula. Hit Ok and repeat steps two and three until you finish editing all rows. After everything has finished compiling, make sure to uncheck the box next to Hide Private Information so your recipients will be aware of exactly what they are working on. When ready, hit Apply and Close. Everyone on your team should now be able to easily access the updated results.

How do I share an Excel chart in Outlook?

One last scenario that demonstrates the usefulness of inserting Excel charts into emails. Imagine you are part of a sales team trying to track performance metrics related to customer service calls. One day you notice that your boss has sent out a weekly summary of recent issues along with accompanying graphs highlighting trends and patterns. How easy would it be to replicate this feature if he had included those items as native elements within his email body? Well, thanks to the power of VBA scripting, it becomes possible.

To start, create a brand new Excel file and name it something simple like WeeklySummary. Inside of this file, create a table similar to the following example.

Next, create a UserForm called ucallsummary_form and place it somewhere convenient. Make sure to assign it a title and give it an appropriate icon. Now, whenever you create a call log entry via Outlook, you can embed the relevant details into the form itself and immediately generate an attractive graph. Here's how it looks.

In short, all you need to do is write a little bit of code that imports the necessary objects from Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and inserts them into the Chart object. The simplest way to do this is by referencing a specific line of code written by yours truly. For reference purposes, I'm providing my sample script below. Feel free to adjust it according to your needs.

Sub CallLogEntry() Dim wshShell As Long Set shpWS=CreateObject("WScript.Shell") With CreateObject("Excel.Application").DisplayFullScreen = True End With 'get shell object' shpWS.SendKeys ("{ENTER}") Do While Not shpWS.Busy And shpWS.ReadyState "" 4 shpWS.GetChild.Item("txtCallID").Value = InputBox("Please input your Caller ID", "Enter Caller ID", vbNullString) Do Loop Until shpWS.Busy Or shpWS.readystate "" 4 Else shpWS.CommandText "" ctl00$ctl01$tblMain$trck1$cbStartDateEndDate

End Sub

After making adjustments, compile your project and test it out. Notice how nicely embedded graphics integrate with the rest of your message. They almost feel like actual components. Just imagine how awesome this technology will become in years to come.

It's easy enough sending attachments from the desktop version of Microsoft Office, but what about when you're using it on mobile devices or another computer program? How does that happen without opening up Word first? Here we'll show you some simple ways to attach.xls (Excel) spreadsheets directly into an email message.  This is especially useful if you want to share figures with someone who uses different programs like Google Drive or Apple Mail.

The process works exactly the same whether you use Outlook 2010/2013 or 2016 on Windows 10, so here are some tips that will help you out regardless which version you have installed.

Note: If you don't already have these applications installed then click this link to download them now!

How do I send one Excel spreadsheet as an Attachment?

Let's say you've got an important report or document saved in Excel and you need to forward it onto someone else via email. You could open it in Outlook and create a new mail message, add all the recipients and copy-paste the text over. But there's an easier way – just select multiple cells within the sheet and hit Ctrl+C followed by Ctrl+V. This copies the contents of those selected cells straight into the body of the email. No messing around with copying formulas too, which most people tend to forget anyway. And best of all, it doesn't require you to leave Excel running.

Now let's look at how to get an entire sheet sent as an attachment. First off, make sure you save the relevant documents before attaching them otherwise they won't appear correctly. Go ahead and launch Outlook, go to File " New Message… and choose either Email or E-mail & Messages under Application Settings. Enter a Subject line and enter the recipient(s). Then right below where it says To:, type C:\Users\[Your User Name]\AppData\Roaming\.outlook\messagebait.xml. Hit OK and wait while the file downloads. When it has finished, follow the instructions to import it into Outlook.

If the above method isn't working properly, try changing the settings for Importing Spreadsheet Files to XLSX format rather than CSV.

You may also be interested in learning how to convert a PDF to an image.

How do you send an Excel spreadsheet as an attachment?

So far our methods have focused on importing single excel spreadsheets into Outlook. What happens if you want to attach more than one? The easiest way is to put each separate tab into its own email thread. For example, maybe you've got three tabs containing data from three different sources. Just keep each source separated with a semicolon and then set up a name for each section after the tab title e.g. Data1, Data2 and Data3. Now place a comma between each tab title and press Alt + Shift + TAB to jump to the next tab. Your final string should read something along the lines of TabData1TabData2TabData3. Once again, change the setting in Importing Spreadsheet Files from Comma Separated Values back to Excel 97 - 2003 (.csv) format.

Alternatively, you can simply drag and drop every cell across each row until everything fits together nicely, but this obviously takes longer. Another alternative would be to split the rows into their own sections, and then insert columns for headers. In both cases, once you've done it once, you can repeat the process for subsequent tabs.

In order to stop Outlook bombarding us with messages saying that the attached file was corrupted, go to Tools " Trust Center " Advanced Options " General " Uncheck Send me information about every downloaded file. Finally, head to Help " Check for updates and install the latest version of Outlook.

How do I email a spreadsheet?

Microsoft offers several native tools that allow users to easily email Excel spreadsheets. One such tool is called xlwings. It allows you to take a range of values (e.g., A1 through D100), paste them into a preconfigured template, and then generate a brand-new email based on that configuration. Simply navigate inside a particular cell and start typing commands like =" ",!,"", etc.

To begin, search for xlwings in the Start Menu and run it. Select Create Workbook... and give it a meaningful name. From the top ribbon menu, select Insert " Table…. Choose the table column layout you prefer (I usually go with Wide since my monitor resolution is 1920px wide) and then pick your preferred number of rows. Click Next and then Finish. Right click anywhere blank on the canvas and select View Code.... Find the code that corresponds to the last step you created and double-click it. This will bring up a small window that looks similar to the screenshot below. Copy and paste whatever you entered earlier into this box, making certain to include two additional parameters at the end. Paste them beneath the third parameter labeled @Body. Replace [SheetName] with anything descriptive, then check Preview to ensure everything matches up. Lastly, scroll down to the very bottom of the page and remove the comment symbol (#) from the following line. Save the project and exit.

Next time you compose a new email, switch to the Compose screen and instead of entering details manually, use the wizard to fill the rest of the fields automatically. Select the newly created Excel file as your content and you’ll see the standard options pop up for adding recipients, subject, and other basic info.

But perhaps you'd like to tweak the design a bit. There are various themes available, or alternatively the Ribbon interface gives you access to many customization features. We suggest experimenting with these yourself because it really depends upon what kind of output you desire. As always, remember to test your results thoroughly beforehand.

How do I export individual sheets in Excel?

When working in larger projects with hundreds of thousands of rows, sometimes it might become necessary to extract smaller subsets of data. Perhaps you only want to view a list of customers' names or sales records from January. Or perhaps you want to pull specific ranges of numbers or dates. Whatever the case, exporting a sheet is incredibly straightforward.

First things first, if you haven't yet changed the default location, head to File " Info… and make sure Export to folder points towards wherever you wish to store your exported files. Also make note of the Default Delimiters option. By default, it'll point to commas. So if you were to input Sales Amounts$10,20,30,40,50% into a cell somewhere, it'll produce a result of $10,000,00. However, you probably wouldn't want to display amounts that large in a regular spreadsheet. Instead, change the delimiter to "$". That way whenever you refer to sums, they'll come out correctly.

Once you've made these changes, highlight the desired range of cells and head to Home " Clipboard " Destination Folder… and browse away. Alternatively, you could also cut and paste the selection into a Notepad app. Either way, you'll find all your extracted bits of data neatly organized in a designated directory.

Have you ever used Excel to email a file? Do you know of any unique tricks worth mentioning? Let us know in the comments below!

You are sending a group of people an important document via email but you want them to be able to see it without having to open up Microsoft Word first. This is where attaching an.xls or.xlt file comes into play. It's quick, easy, and will save everyone some valuable seconds while they wait for their computer to load a different program.  But what if someone sends back an attachment that isn't an Excel document? How would you know then?

In this article we'll cover all aspects of attaching an Excel document within Outlook 2007 through 2010 and 2013. We'll also explain why using these methods instead of just dragging-and-dropping works so well. Let's get started!

How can multiple users edit an Excel spreadsheet at the same time?

Excel has become such a powerful tool because of its ability to handle large amounts data. However, sometimes when working on a project there may come a moment where more than one person needs access and wants to make changes. In those situations, it's often helpful to have several users viewing the same sheet simultaneously. Since each user only sees his/her own part of the sheet rather than seeing everything together as a single unit, conflicts tend not to arise as much. You could even add comments to certain cells which other viewers wouldn't be able to read until after they've made edits.

To take advantage of this feature in Outlook (aside from doing it manually), simply right click anywhere within the spreadsheet and select " Share With..." followed by " Specific People." A window should pop up asking who you wish to give permission to view this item. If anyone else tries to use the method described below to send you an attached Excel file though, it won't show up unless he/she was added to the list. Also, note that if you choose "Specific People" under the Sharing menu option above, it will prompt you to enter names separated by commas before allowing anyone to access the file. That way you're less likely to accidentally include another user name.

Once selected, a new window titled "Send To Other Users" should appear. The next step is to ensure that both "Enable Editing" and "Allow Untrusted Parties to Edit Contents" boxes are checked. Otherwise, no one except the sender will be able to modify anything. Once finished, hit OK and you're good to go. Now whenever someone attaches a.xls or.xlw file to an email message sent to your email address, it should automatically display in whichever version of Excel you happen to be running.

If you ever need to remove someone from the sharing permissions list, head over here and follow steps 1-5 again. Just change the last line of code.

How do I share Microsoft Excel File with multiple users?

This process is exactly like sharing any other type of document in Windows Explorer. But unlike documents created in MS Word, Excel documents don't allow two different versions of the software to run side by side. So when you download an Excel file from somewhere online like Google Docs or Dropbox, it's already been converted into something called XLSX format. When you try opening it in Excel however, nothing happens since it doesn't recognize it as being compatible. What you actually need to do is convert it into a.xls extension. Doing so allows you to double check all formatting information and tweak things if needed.

For example, let's say you downloaded a copy of a popular book from Amazon Kindle. Upon downloading, Amazon converts the PDF file into a proprietary eBook format which can only be opened in Adobe Digital Editions. But if you were to upload it onto Calibre, the best free eReader application available today, it would still look great in Calibre despite the fact that it's now missing essential elements like page numbers and chapter breaks. Converting it to an.epub format fixes most of those problems.

So how does this help us? Well, many times companies will provide employees with company-wide licenses to access corporate spreadsheets internally. For instance, maybe you received an excel file containing employee salaries and benefits info. Instead of trying to figure out how to break down the file yourself, ask whoever sent it to send you the original source file itself along with any instructions on how to properly merge in additional sheets. Then once you've figured out the specifics, you can either create copies of the final master file locally or export it directly to Word or whatever other office suite you prefer. Whichever route you decide to take, converting the excel file to xls beforehand can really speed up the process greatly.

Note that if you receive an.xlsx file, you must first switch to the desktop version of Excel before editing it. Unfortunately, Excel Online currently cannot support editing.xlsx files. Why? Because.xlsx files contain references to macros found inside of individual sheets, and that means that macro functions aren't available when viewed in web browsers.

The reason this matters is because if you plan on distributing the final product to hundreds of people, whether to print or electronically distribute, you might end up needing to replace certain parts of the design later due to legal reasons or technical errors. By converting the file to xls early on, you can avoid making major mistakes and potentially saving yourself thousands of dollars during production.

Another benefit of creating your master file in.xls format is that if you ever wanted to send it off to an external service provider, it'd be easier to trust that the conversion wasn't botched somehow. After all, the server processing your request probably hasn't got the proper licensing to access your original source material anyway.

Why can't I share my Excel workbook?

There are three main reasons why Microsoft prevents you from sharing a personal workbook. First, it violates the Terms of Use agreement. Second, it poses security risks. Thirdly, you could lose control of your workbook in case of unexpected shutdowns. All of these drawbacks aside, there are still plenty of valid uses for sharing Excel workbooks. Here are just a few examples:

1) Company Intranet - Employees typically log into a central intranet site to browse various kinds of content provided by the business. One common task that occurs often is accessing specific reports and analyzing statistics based upon parameters entered previously. As long as the report contains sensitive data, it makes sense for the IT department to keep it locked away behind a password protected login screen. While it's possible to link accounts to multiple computers, it becomes cumbersome when dealing with dozens of machines. Thus, providing employees with remote access privileges is usually preferred.

2) Business Partnerships - If two businesses decided to join forces, one idea is to exchange confidential financial records between partners. Both sides would store critical data in separate locations and never bother syncing them together. By taking precautions to prevent unauthorized parties from gaining access to it, it ensures that nobody gets hold of sensitive information unintentionally. Plus, exchanging spreadsheets helps cut down on unnecessary meetings and paperwork.

3) Collaborative Projects - If you're collaborating on a team project with others, chances are you'll eventually need to present a finalized draft to management. Or perhaps you want to offer feedback to colleagues about ideas for improvement. Either way, giving them direct access to a shared workbook is ideal. They can easily pick apart sections of text, insert images and tables, etc., without worrying about messing up the overall appearance.

How do I share an Excel workbook in Office 365?

Unlike traditional editions of Microsoft Office, Office 365 subscribers don't have full access to every kind of functionality offered by the latest release. The problem is that although you technically have unlimited storage space, you're limited to 5 gigabytes worth of attachments per month. If you exceed that amount, your account gets suspended completely. And since Excel plays such an integral role in managing spreadsheets, losing access to it entirely is equivalent to getting kicked out of the club altogether. Luckily, you can circumvent this limitation by uploading your workbook to a cloud drive like SkyDrive or Box.com. Alternatively, you may consider starting a private network collaboration with friends and coworkers. Having access to your entire family's medical history or accounting database stored locally on your hard drive sure beats logging into Hotmail to retrieve it.

If you need to find out more about enabling and disabling features in Office 365, refer to our guide detailing how to activate Skype video calls in Office 365.