The Hassle of Manual Data Entry
If a colleague hands you a printed spreadsheet, or if you take a screenshot of a data table from a protected PDF or a webpage, getting that data into Microsoft Excel used to be a nightmare. You would have to manually retype every single number and text string, a process that is not only incredibly time-consuming but practically guarantees typographical errors.
To eliminate this frustration, Microsoft introduced a powerful OCR (Optical Character Recognition) feature directly into Excel called Data from Picture. This tool uses artificial intelligence to scan an image, identify the columns and rows, read the text, and instantly convert it into editable Excel cells.
Step 1: Preparing Your Image
The accuracy of the Data from Picture tool depends heavily on the quality of the image you provide. For the best results:
- Ensure the image is not blurry or out of focus.
- If taking a photo of a physical document with your phone, ensure there is good lighting and that you are holding the camera directly overhead (not at a sharp angle).
- Crop the image so it only contains the data table you want to import. Extraneous text or background objects can confuse the AI.
You can use an image saved on your hard drive (like a .JPG or .PNG file), or you can simply have the image copied to your computer’s clipboard (e.g., by taking a screenshot using the Windows Snipping Tool).
Step 2: Using the Data from Picture Tool
Once your image is ready, follow these steps to extract the text:
- Open Microsoft Excel and navigate to the worksheet where you want to insert the data.
- Click on the cell that will become the top-left corner of your new data table.
- On the main Excel ribbon, click the Data tab.
- Look for the “Get & Transform Data” section on the far left. Click the button labelled From Picture.
A drop-down menu will appear offering two choices:
- Picture From File: Choose this if your image is saved on your hard drive. A file browser will open, allowing you to select the image.
- Picture From Clipboard: Choose this if you just took a screenshot and the image is currently copied to your clipboard.
Step 3: Reviewing and Correcting the Data
After you select your image, a sidebar will slide out on the right side of your screen. Excel will spend a few seconds analyzing the picture.
Crucially, Excel does not just blindly dump the text into your spreadsheet. It presents a review interface first.
In the sidebar, you will see a preview of the data it extracted. Excel’s AI will automatically highlight any words or numbers it is unsure about (usually denoted by a pink or red background). This often happens with similar-looking characters, such as a capital “I” versus a lowercase “l” versus the number “1”.
- Click the Review button in the sidebar.
- Excel will zoom in on the original image showing the specific character in question, and present a text box with its “best guess”.
- If Excel guessed correctly, click Accept. If it made a mistake, type the correct character in the box and then click Accept.
- Continue clicking Accept until you have reviewed all flagged items.
Step 4: Inserting the Data
Once you are satisfied that the data preview is accurate, click the Insert Data button at the bottom of the sidebar. A final warning will appear reminding you that you are responsible for validating the data; click Insert Data again.
The text will instantly populate into your Excel grid, perfectly formatted into columns and rows, ready for you to format, sort, or apply formulas to.