Text that is copied from Excel is not pasted into PowerPoint as you expect (827105)

SYMPTOMS

When you copy text from a Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet and then paste the text into a Microsoft Office PowerPoint slide, the text formatting may unexpectedly disappear.

CAUSE

This behavior may occur when you copy only the text in a cell, or when you copy a text box or other AutoShape that is embedded in an Excel worksheet. The context of the text is retained, but the formatting is changed to the default text in PowerPoint.

Note When you copy a cell from Excel, the text in the cell retains the Excel font formatting.

WORKAROUND

To copy text from Excel, to paste it into PowerPoint, and to retain the formatting, do the following:

In Excel, select the data or chart that you want to copy.
Right-click and select Copy.
Switch to PowerPoint.
On the Edit menu, click Paste Special.
Click Formatted Text (RTF).

Note For a graphic or for text that has an AutoShape embedded in the cell, paste as a Picture or as a Bitmap.

You can also retain the item's original formatting by using the smart tag that appears under the item that you pasted. To retain the item's original formatting, click Keep Source Formatting.

MORE INFORMATION

Some text formatting options, such as strikethrough, are not available in PowerPoint and will be lost. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

285506 Special text formatting is lost when a Word document is pasted in PowerPoint2002 or in PowerPoint 2003