XL: Source Unknown Pasting Object from Microsoft Excel

• Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 5.0, 5.0c

SYMPTOMS

When you copy a picture in Microsoft Excel and use the Paste Special command (Edit menu) in a client application such as Microsoft Word to paste the picture, the Source field in the Paste Special dialog box displays the text "Unknown" and the Paste Link option is not available.

CAUSE

This behavior only occurs when you copy a picture in Microsoft Excel, such as a button or a drawing object. When you copy cells or a chart, the source is correctly identified as a worksheet or chart object. This behavior is by design of Microsoft Excel. When you copy a drawing object, only the picture is copied, instead of the entire workbook. This means that the client application can only paste the object, instead of linking to the object.

When you create a link in your document to a range of cells or a chart on a Microsoft Excel worksheet, the entire worksheet file is linked to your source document.

RESOLUTION

To create a link to a picture on a Microsoft Excel worksheet, copy the range of cells that contain the picture, and use the Paste Special dialog box in the client application to link the object as a worksheet object, picture, or bitmap.

Note that if you select Unformatted Text or Formatted Text (RTF) in the Paste Special dialog box, the picture does not appear in the linked information.