How to use the Undo feature with inserted objects in Office programs

When you insert an object from one program (for example, a Microsoft Excel worksheet object) into another program (for example, Microsoft Word), and then you deactivate and reactivate the inserted object, the Undo command may behave differently in each program. This article explains the differences in the behavior of the Undo command with inserted objects in Microsoft Office programs.

How to Use the Undo Feature with Inserted Objects

Each Office program includes an Undo command. When you use this command, you can undo certain actions after you perform them. For example, if you type a value in an Excel worksheet cell, you can undo the action. To use the Undo command, do either of the following:

• For Office 2003 or earlier versions, click Undo on the Edit menu.
• For Office 2007 or earlier verions, click the Undo button on the Quick Access Toolbar.

When you click the arrow next to the Undo button on the toolbar, you can see a list of the actions that you performed. This list is called the "undo stack." Usually, the undo stack is cleared only when you perform an irreversible action, such as when you close a file. When you reopen the file, no items are listed in the undo stack.

However, when you insert an object into another program, the undo stack may be cleared when you deactivate and reactive the object.

Microsoft Word Document Objects

When you insert a Microsoft Word document into another program, make changes to the document, deactivate the document object, and then reactivate the document object, the undo stack is not cleared. As a result, you can still undo changes that you previously made to the Word document object.

Microsoft Excel Worksheet Objects and Chart Objects

When you insert an Excel worksheet object or chart object into another program, make changes to the worksheet, deactivate the worksheet object, and then reactivate the worksheet object, the undo stack is cleared. You cannot undo changes that you previously made to the Excel worksheet or chart object.

Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation Objects

When you insert a PowerPoint presentation object into another program, make changes to the presentation, deactivate the presentation object, and then reactivate the presentation object, the undo stack is cleared. You cannot undo changes that you previously made to the PowerPoint presentation object.

Microsoft Access Database Objects

You cannot insert a Microsoft Access database object into another program.

Example

The following example demonstrates the behavior of the undo stack when you insert an Excel worksheet object into a Word document:

1. Start Word, and then create a new document.
2. In Word 2003 or earlier versions, click Object on the Insert menu.
   
   In Word 2007, on the Insert tab, click Object.
3. In the Object type list, click Microsoft Excel Worksheet, and then click OK.
4. In the Excel worksheet object, type values in some of the cells. When you finish typing, click any cell in the worksheet object.
5. Click the arrow next to the Undo button on the toolbar.
   
   Note that the list contains several items, such as Typing 'value' in cell, where value is the value that you typed and cell is the cell that contains the value.
6. Deactivate the worksheet object. To do so, click an empty area of the Word document.
7. Reactivate the worksheet object. To do so, double-click the worksheet object.
8. Click the arrow next to the Undo button on the toolbar.
   
   Note that the list displays only one item, which is named Last.

If you perform these same steps when you use a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation object, the behavior is the same. That is, the undo stack is cleared.

If you insert a Word document object into another program, deactivate and then reactivate the document object, the undo stack is not cleared. The Undo list contains all of the same items after you reactivate the document object.