Insert images in cells with the IMAGE function in Excel

(Originally posted August 25, 2022 By ~ Elizabeth Caldesi)

Hello, Insiders! I’m Elisabetta Caldesi and I’m a Product Manager on the Excel team. I’m excited to share with you a new function called IMAGE that returns an image within a cell.

IMAGE function in Excel

We’ve received a lot of feedback asking for the ability to insert images into cells, and we’re happy to deliver! Now you can use images as part of your worksheet, not floating on top. You can move and resize cells, sort and filter, and work with images within an Excel table. This improvement unlocks and facilitates many new scenarios, such as tracking inventory, creating employee dashboards, and building games and brackets.

How it works

that IMAGE function Insert an image into a cell from its source location, along with its replacement text. Simply type the following into the cell:

=IMAGE(source, [alt_text], [sizing], [height], [width])

where:

• source (required) is a URL path to an image file using the “https” protocol. (Note: Supported file formats include BMP, JPG/JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PNG, ICO, and WEBP.)
• Alternative text (optional) Alternative text describing the image (for accessibility).
• Sizing (optional) Specifies the image size. There are several possible values.
  • 0: Fits the image to the cell and maintains the aspect ratio.
  • 1: Fills the cell with an image, ignoring the image’s aspect ratio.
  • 2: Maintains the original image size, which may exceed cell boundaries.
  • 3: Customize the image size using: key and width
• Height and width (optional) Defines the height and width of the image only when using resize option 3.

Scenarios to try

• Insert a sphere into a cell by typing:

  =IMAGE("https://support.content.office.net/en-us/media/2d9e717a-0077-438f-8e5e-f85a1305d4ad.jpg", "Sphere")

  Cell containing the image of a sphere

• Inserting a cylinder into a cell:
  1. Copy the following URL and paste it into cell B1.

     https://support.content.office.net/en-us/media/35aecc53-b3c1-4895-8a7d-554716941806.jpg">https://support.content.office.net/en-us/media/35aecc53-b3c1-4895-8a7d-554716941806.jpg

  2. In cell B2, type the following:

     Cylinder

  3. In cell A3, type the following:

     =IMAGE(B1,B2,0)

  4. Press ENTER.

     Cells containing cylinder images

Known Issues

• If the URL of the image file you are using points to a site that requires authentication, the image will not be rendered.
• Enlarging or reducing an image within a cell may cause the image to become distorted.
• Moving between platforms (e.g. Windows and Mac) can cause image rendering to become erratic.

effectiveness

The IMAGE feature is available to Insiders running the following Beta Channel builds:

• Windows: Version 2209 (Build 15608.10000) or later
• Mac: Version 16.65 (Build 22080701) or later
• iOS: Version 2.65 (Build 22080701) or later
• Android: 16.0.15608.10000 or later

Features are released over time to ensure everything works smoothly. They are released slowly to a larger number of Insiders, highlighting features you may not have. Sometimes we remove elements based on your feedback to make them even better. This is rare, but we also have the option to completely remove a feature from the product, even if you, as an Insider, had the opportunity to try it out.

feedback

We hope you’ll join us on this journey as we preview the new IMAGE function in Excel. Click help > feedback Please submit your feedback in Excel to help us prioritize our work.

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