Excel connections

Use Excel connections when your data should keep updating after the slide is created.

​

Connect a Visual Grid to Excel

To create a linked Visual Grid:

1. Open the workbook in Excel.
2. Copy the range you want to use.
3. Go to the target slide in PowerPoint.
4. Paste the data through Grunt.
5. Size the Visual Grid on the slide.

Grunt links the grid back to the workbook and keeps the original workbook path with the object.

​

Connect any chart to Excel

For chart objects, you can either:

• Insert the chart while the Excel range is already on the clipboard
• Replace the chart’s source range later from Excel Connection

This is covered in more detail on Charts.

​

Use the Data Editor

The Data Editor is the main place to inspect or change several values at once. You can open it by:

• Clicking the pencil icon in the edge menu
• Pressing Ctrl + Shift + E
• Right-clicking a Grunt object and choosing Edit data

The editor supports:

• Direct cell edits
• Multi-line edits through the formula bar
• Hidden columns or rows that still drive formatting
• Override visibility for cells that no longer match the workbook

​

Understand overrides

When you change linked values directly in PowerPoint, you do not update Excel. You create an override instead. Legacy support guidance notes:

• Overridden cells are marked in the edge menu or data editor
• You can clear the override to reveal the original Excel value again
• Clearing overrides is safer than retyping the workbook value manually

​

Use Greedy rows and columns for changing ranges

Greedy rows and columns tell Grunt to keep reading data until the first empty row or column. Use this when the dataset grows over time. Advanced tip from the legacy guidance:

• If you use only the top-left workbook cell as the starting range, Grunt can expand and contract the detected dataset dynamically.

​

Avoid workbook-not-found issues

Most broken Excel links are path problems, not data problems. To reduce failures:

• Store the workbook in a shared location all collaborators can access
• Prefer a synced shared folder or shared SharePoint location over a personal local path
• Avoid OneDrive or SharePoint shortcuts
• Make sure every collaborator can open the workbook directly in Excel

​

Make cloud files available locally

Grunt works best when it can access a real local file path, even if the source lives in SharePoint or OneDrive. That is why the legacy support guidance recommends syncing the shared file library locally before you connect it in Grunt.

​

Data limits for Excel connections

Grunt enforces these limits per connection:

• Maximum rows: 8,192
• Maximum cells: 32,768

If your Excel range exceeds these limits, you will see a “Range has too many rows” error. This commonly happens when connecting to large pivot tables backed by extensive datasets. Reduce the connected range or summarize the data before connecting.

​

OneDrive-synced files may not auto-detect changes

When working with files synced through OneDrive, Grunt may not always detect changes automatically after you save in Excel. This depends on how OneDrive handles file synchronization on your machine. If you do not see the update notification:

1. Click Update manually in the Grunt ribbon or edge menu to check for changes.
2. Verify the file is fully synced in OneDrive (check for the green checkmark icon).

​

File permissions and data refresh

Grunt uses the same file access permissions as your Windows account. If you do not have access to the linked Excel file, Grunt cannot read it or notify you of changes — even if someone else with access has updated the file. Make sure every collaborator who needs update notifications has direct access to the workbook.

​

Continue

If you want the overview workflow, continue to Work with data. If you need path and rendering fixes, go to Troubleshooting.