File Format & Compatibility

How to Embed All Pages of a PDF in Excel

Olivia Miller Oct 9, 2026 870 views

Question details

The user wants to view or embed all pages of a multi-page PDF directly within an Excel worksheet.

How to Embed All Pages of a PDF in Excel

Product: Microsoft Excel
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Trying to display every page of a multi-page PDF file that has been inserted into an Excel workbook.
Observed behavior: Excel only displays the first page of the embedded PDF object as a preview, hiding all subsequent pages unless the file is opened externally.

Before you start

Before inserting your PDF, determine whether you need the pages to be immediately readable on the worksheet or if double-clicking to open the file in a separate PDF reader is acceptable.

Solution 1Recommended

Convert PDF Pages to Images for Full Visibility

Bypass Excel's native limitation by converting each page of your PDF into an image format and inserting them directly into your worksheet.

Since Excel is incapable of displaying multiple pages of an embedded PDF document directly on the grid, converting the PDF pages to standard image files is the most effective way to ensure every page is visible without requiring the user to open an external application.

Convert the PDF to images

Use a PDF editor or a secure online converter to export all pages of your multi-page PDF document into standard image files, such as JPG or PNG.

Open Excel and go to Insert

Open your target workbook in Microsoft Excel, click on the cell where you want the first page to appear, and navigate to the 'Insert' tab on the top ribbon.

Insert the images

Click on 'Pictures' > 'This Device', select all the extracted image files from your computer, and click 'Insert'.

Arrange the pages

Manually resize and arrange the inserted images so that all pages are displayed consecutively and neatly on your worksheet.

Convert PDF Pages to Images for Full Visibility

Best Practice: Compress the images before inserting them into Excel to prevent your workbook's file size from becoming too large and slowing down performance.

Solution 2

Embed the PDF and Open Externally

If you do not need the pages to be immediately readable on the worksheet itself, you can embed the PDF as an object and access the full document with a double-click.

All-in-One Office Suite

Easily Manage PDFs and Spreadsheets with WPS Office

WPS Office integrates a powerful PDF editor and a versatile Spreadsheet tool into one single, lightweight application. You can seamlessly convert multi-page PDFs to images and insert them into your spreadsheets without needing third-party converters.

1. Open your PDF in WPS Office: Launch WPS Office and open your multi-page PDF document.
2. Use the PDF to Picture tool: Navigate to the 'Tools' tab and select 'PDF to Picture' to export all pages as individual image files in seconds.
3. Insert into WPS Spreadsheet: Open your spreadsheet, go to the 'Insert' tab, select 'Picture', and place all extracted pages directly into your worksheet for full visibility.

Built-in PDF to Picture converter for easy multi-page extractionFully compatible with Microsoft Excel (.xlsx and .xls) formatsLightweight all-in-one suite for documents, spreadsheets, and PDFsFree to download and use with a highly intuitive tabbed interface

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Excel only show the first page of my PDF?

Excel embeds PDFs as OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) objects. By design, this feature only generates a static image preview of the very first page of the file, requiring users to double-click and open the object externally to see subsequent pages.

Can I scroll through an embedded PDF directly inside Excel?

No, Excel does not support scrolling through embedded PDF objects directly on the worksheet grid. You must double-click the embedded object to open it in a dedicated PDF reader to scroll through all pages.

Is there a way to link to a large PDF instead of embedding it?

Yes. Instead of inserting it as an embedded object, you can select a cell, go to 'Insert' > 'Link' (or press Ctrl + K), and select your PDF file. Clicking the hyperlink will open the full PDF externally, which helps keep your Excel file size small and manageable.

Document & File Issues