- Microsoft 365 users can make use of the very powerful “Get Data from Picture” feature in Excel.
- You’ll need a good screenshot or image file of an existing table, preferably formatted.
- Sometimes, you might need to review the extracted data before inserting it into your spreadsheet to correct errors.
It sounds a bit like something out of a futuristic dream: taking a picture and turning it into perfectly formatted data. Technology – and specifically, the latest versions of Excel – now allows users to convert screenshots into spreadsheet data, which is something you might not even have been aware of.
Well, fortunately, in this article, we’ll be walking you through this amazing process and showing you how to convert screenshot into Excel.
Before You Convert
The Get Data from Picture feature is incredibly useful, but only available to those with an active Microsoft 365 subscription. You’ll also need to ensure that Microsoft Edge WebView2 is installed, too.
Excel’s ability to convert screenshots is quite amazing, but at the same time, the app isn’t a miracle worker. The screenshot or scan that you want to insert into Excel should be formatted like a table or spreadsheet for ease of insertion. You’ll find that Excel has a much easier time converting things the way you’d like if you start correctly.
If using a photo or scan, ensure that the image and document quality are good, too. This includes lighting, etc. Extra additions, such as a pen or fancy handwriting, can make the data extraction process much harder. Ideally, you should be capturing a printed page in high resolution.
Microsoft Excel will be extracting data from a picture. This means your screenshot, scan, or photo needs to be saved in an acceptable image format. If you’re capturing a screengrab on your PC, Windows makes this easy to do too:
Step 1. Open the Snipping Tool app by pressing (Win + Shift + S).
Step 2. Choose your screen capture method from the top menu bar and take your screenshot.
Step 3. A pop-up message will appear with your screenshot. Click it to open the editor.
Step 4. Save your screenshot to an easily accessible destination.
Step 5. Alternately, you don’t have to save your screenshot and can keep it copied to the clipboard for insertion later.
How to Convert Screenshot into Excel Sheet
With the groundwork out of the way, let’s move to converting your data. With your image file ready, you can begin. Here’s what to do:
Step 1. Open Excel and choose a blank workbook.
Step 2. In the “Data” tab, click on the “Get Data” button.
Step 3. From the new dropdown menu, navigate to “From Other Sources,” then to “From Picture.”
Step 4. Choose “Picture From File” or “Picture From Clipboard,” depending on how your image file is currently stored. Screenshots can be found on the clipboard.
Step 5. Excel will then begin analyzing your data. This may take a while, depending on the size of your image file.
Step 6. Once the data has been extracted, it’ll show up on the right side of your spreadsheet in a preview window.
Step 7. Click the “Insert Data” button when you’re sure the information is accurate.
Step 8. Your data will then be inserted into the spreadsheet.
If the conversion process goes less smoothly than hoped, you’ll be greeted with several pink cells in your preview window, with the option to click the “Review” button enabled. You can manually work through each pink cell to make changes or confirm the data inside it. When finished reviewing data, press “Accept” to move on.
