Cannot resize embedded Excel sheet in PowerPoint or Word when using Windows 10 Display scaling above 100%

Question

Hi,

We've come across an isssue were an Excel embedded table in PowerPoint or Word cannot be resized. Double clicking to activate the sizing controls for the embedded sheet instead opens Excel to edit the data with no way of increasing the range area to be displayed. The issue seems to be related to Windows display display scaling if any display scale is set above 100%, eg, laptop display scaled to 125% (Recommended) or higher.

This affects multiple builds of MS Office in our environment, but the one on my system is version: 1902 (Build 11328.20158 Click-to-Run)

Windows 10 version: 1809 (OS Build 17763.348)

I'm using a laptop connected to multiple displays with the laptop display scaling set to 125% (Recommended). I've also tested this on 4k displays where the scaling is set to 200% (Recommended) value and can reproduce the issue.

Steps to reproduce the issue:

In Word/PowerPoint choose Insert > Table > Excel Spreadsheet or

Copy a range from an existing Excel worksheet and Paste Special as Microsoft Excel Worksheet Object

Expected behaviour:

The mini Excel view shows resizing handles allowing resizing to the required number of rows/columns. Deselecting and then double clicking the object shows the same resizing function.

Behaviour if any screen scale is set above 100%, eg, laptop is set to 125% (Recommended)

Inserting an Excel table shows only 4 cells:

The mini Excel view is not displayed. There is no way to resize the range to show more rows/columns. Double clicking the object opens Excel to edit the data. However, there is no apparent way of resizing the range to be displayed.

Is there any way of resizing the range without resorting to adjusting display scaling everytime?

Regards,

Brett

Answer 1

Editing embedded or linked content relies on OLE. OLE display is resolution-dependent. This is why you'll find a bazillion questions along the lines of "I changed my monitor and now I see a different number of columns in an embedded Excel sheet".

When you're running a system with multiple resolutions, OLE doesn't know which resolution to use. But it automatically falls back to a workaround: instead of editing the file in place (the normal consequence of double-clicking on an embedded selection), Office opens Excel and allows you to change your selection there so you can repaste it into PowerPoint.

In PowerPoint, you can click on File>Feedback, click the Send a Frown button. And describe the problem in detail, including all steps to replicate the issue. Submitting will send the report to Microsoft programmers. However, since they've already programmed a workaround, it seems likely they're already aware of this.

Answer 2

Hi Brett,

I just wanted to thank you for posting this to the forum.  I stumbled upon this thread in an effort to find a solution to my identical problem and the information provided by both you and John helped me FINALLY figure out why I was struggling to resize embedded excel windows (within Visio) for months. 

The key, or workaround if you will, is to ensure the scaling is consistent between multiple displays. Sure enough, after adjusting the scaling on all displays to match, I can now resize my embedded excel tables!

Thanks again,

Adam