# Can't "Edit Data" in Word Chart



## M00se36 (Oct 7, 2011)

I have a chart in Word that won't let me "Edit Data" by opening the underlying Xcel document that controls the data and lables of the chart. No amount of right clicking or ctrl right clicking gives me the option to edit data. Argh.


----------



## Keebellah (Mar 27, 2008)

Hi welcome to the forum,
First things first, you have forgotten to mention the versions of Excel and Word you are using.
Can it be that (if it's version 2007 or 2010) the Excel sheet is not cosidered trusted and thus you are not able to edit it?
Is the chart a link to an Excel chart or a copy of the object in word?


----------



## M00se36 (Oct 7, 2011)

Thank you very much for the reply. I'm using Excel 2010 and Word 2010. I'm not sure what it means to have an Excel sheet that is trusted, or how to make such a sheet trustworthy or untrustworthy. When I created the chart in Word, it automatically opened an Excel spreadsheet in which I entered the data. 

I saved the Word document after creating the chart. Now I've reopened it a week or so later and would like to edit the data to amend the chart, but there no longer appears to be any functionality that I'm aware of that will reopen the Excel spreadsheet.

You ask, "Is the chart a link to an Excel chart or a copy of the object in word?" I don't know how to answer that question because I don't understand it.  I've never had this problem before with a chart that I've created in Word.

Thanks again for your help.


----------



## Keebellah (Mar 27, 2008)

Wel the part about a document being "trusted" is the security settings that wil or will not allow macro's to be excuted.
If the macro's are normally executed without you having to press the button "Allow Editting" and there is no message or warnibg stating that the macro's are disabled, then the file location is considered (for your system) as 'trusted'

If the chart was pasted intot the Word document as Excel Object, the Excel file containg this cahrt will be opened when you double-click on the chart.
If it was pasted as a bmp then of course there is no link to the source, it's just a picture.

A chart created in Word is not the same a as s chart 'embedded' in Word with Excel or another application for that matter as source.

It's difficult to put this in 'writing' and in such a way that the reader understand it. I hope I've been able to explain it in such a way that it helps you.


----------

