Embed Office Documents on SharePoint Page using File and Media Web Part

SharePoint has come a long way from its Classic days. In the past, one way we spiced up bland SharePoint pages was by embedding an Excel document with charts and graphs. Remember this? You were pretty much out of luck, though, if you wanted to embed other office documents (like Word or PowerPoint) on the SharePoint page.

Example of Excel embedded on a Classic SharePoint Page (SharePoint 2023 version)

With SharePoint modernization several years ago, we can now embed other types of files as well (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). Moreover, this is now possible thanks to the newly developed Web Part, which has not received much attention.

How to embed Office Documents on SharePoint Page

When I talk about Office documents, I mean the typical suspects, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. Let me show you how to add those documents to SharePoint Pages.

1. Edit the Page
2. Click the plus sign to add the web parts to the page, and select File and Media Web Part.
3. Point to the file you would like to embed or upload a brand new file. In my case, I uploaded a Word Document.
4. Click the Publish button. The embedded document will now be displayed on the SharePoint page.

Example of a Word Document embedded on a SharePoint page

Example of an Excel Document embedded on a SharePoint page

Example of a PowerPoint presentation embedded on a SharePoint page

Nuances about the File and Media Web Part

• The files you upload from your computer using File and Media Web Part get stored inside the Site Assets document library.
• The embedded documents only make sense when there is plenty of real estate on the SharePoint page (e.g., one-column or two-column layouts). Otherwise, they become unreadable and unusable.
• You get unique options to present data depending on which file type you upload. With Word or PowerPoint, you can specify which Page or Slide you want to start with. Excel has the most options, allowing you to hide gridlines and headers and even display a specific Table or Chart.
• File and Media Web Part can also help you embed other file types (e.g., PDF, MP4, Visio, etc.). By the way, to learn more on how to embed Visio on a SharePoint page, check out another blog post of mine.