How to add alt text in Microsoft Excel to photos, shapes, and graphs and improve your spreadsheet's accessibility

Alt text is an important tool that helps identify images, improve SEO standing, and provides visually impaired users, or anyone who needs additional help identifying the contents of visuals, assistance with on-screen images. 

It's most closely associated with web page design, but you can add alt text to images in any Microsoft Office document, including Excel spreadsheets. Excel lets you add alt text to every kind of image and graphic in two ways, including from the "Illustrations" button in the "Insert" ribbon. 

While most people don't routinely do this, it can be a good idea, especially if your document will be referenced by anyone who uses a screen reader for visual assistance. 

Here's how to add alt text to your Excel spreadsheet. 

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How to add alt text in Excel

1. Open Excel and add your desired image to a spreadsheet.  

2. Right-click the image and choose "Edit alt text…" from the drop-down menu. The Alt Text pane should appear on the right side of the screen. 

3. Type the alt text you want to use to describe the image. 

4. If the image is irrelevant to understanding the overall spreadsheet – for example, it's a line or box that's been added entirely for aesthetic reasons – click the checkbox beside "Mark as decorative."

5. When you're done, close the pane or click something else. The alt text will be automatically added to your document. 

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