• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer

My Online Training Hub

Learn Dashboards, Excel, Power BI, Power Query, Power Pivot

  • Courses
  • Pricing
    • Free Courses
    • Power BI Course
    • Excel Power Query Course
    • Power Pivot and DAX Course
    • Excel Dashboard Course
    • Excel PivotTable Course – Quick Start
    • Advanced Excel Formulas Course
    • Excel Expert Advanced Excel Training
    • Excel Tables Course
    • Excel, Word, Outlook
    • Financial Modelling Course
    • Excel PivotTable Course
    • Excel for Customer Service Professionals
    • Excel for Operations Management Course
    • Excel for Decision Making Under Uncertainty Course
    • Excel for Finance Course
    • Excel Analysis ToolPak Course
    • Multi-User Pricing
  • Resources
    • Free Downloads
    • Excel Functions Explained
    • Excel Formulas
    • Excel Add-ins
    • IF Function
      • Excel IF Statement Explained
      • Excel IF AND OR Functions
      • IF Formula Builder
    • Time & Dates in Excel
      • Excel Date & Time
      • Calculating Time in Excel
      • Excel Time Calculation Tricks
      • Excel Date and Time Formatting
    • Excel Keyboard Shortcuts
    • Excel Custom Number Format Guide
    • Pivot Tables Guide
    • VLOOKUP Guide
    • ALT Codes
    • Excel VBA & Macros
    • Excel User Forms
    • VBA String Functions
  • Members
    • Login
    • Password Reset
  • Blog
  • Excel Webinars
  • Excel Forum
    • Register as Forum Member

Excel IMAGE Function

You are here: Home / Excel Formulas / Excel IMAGE Function
excel image function
September 8, 2022 by Mynda Treacy

The new Excel IMAGE function enables you to insert images into cells with a formula. From there you can resize them, sort, filter and more. The IMAGE function supports BMP, JPG/JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PNG, ICO, and WEBP file types.

The IMAGE function is currently in the beta testing phase so the function arguments may change from what you see here as feedback from testing comes in. It’s currently available to Microsoft 365 users on the Insider Channel for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android.


See the Excel IMAGE Function in Action

Subscribe YouTube


Download Workbook

Enter your email address below to download the sample workbook.

By submitting your email address you agree that we can email you our Excel newsletter.
Please enter a valid email address.

Download the Excel Workbook and follow along. Note: This is a .xlsx file please ensure your browser doesn't change the file extension on download.

Excel IMAGE Function Syntax

Syntax: =IMAGE( source, [alt_text], [sizing], [height], [width])

Source: The URL path entered in double quotes, or cell reference containing the URL, using an "https" protocol, of the image file. Supported file formats include BMP, JPG/JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PNG, ICO, and WEBP.

Alt Text: Optional. Alternative text that describes the image for accessibility.

Sizing: Optional. Specifies the image dimensions. There are several possible values:

  0 Fit the image in the cell and maintain its aspect ratio.

  1 Fill the cell with the image and ignore its aspect ratio.

  2 Maintain the original image size, which may exceed the cell boundary.

  3 Customize the image size by using the height and width arguments.

Height: Optional. The custom height of the image in pixels.

Width: Optional. The custom width of the image in pixels.

Excel IMAGE Function Examples

https://flagpedia.nethosts images of the flags from the world. I used Power Query to download their JSON file containing the URLs for the flag images and loaded them in a table called FlagURLs where I added the IMAGE function to get the images.

excel image function 01

I can sort the Flag column, which actually sorts by the URL.

Filtering the table elegantly hides the images with no hint of them being visible unlike shapes and other objects:

excel image function 02

The images automatically adjust when you resize cells up to their maximum size if you omit the size argument or use the default size argument of 0:

excel image function 03 /></p>

<p>Hovering over the cell triggers the tooltip to pop out:</p>

<p><img decoding=

Unfortunately, currently the minimum size for the tooltip pane is as shown above. And while you can make it bigger as shown below, unfortunately it doesn’t remember the size settings, so you have to resize it each time you hover over the cell!

excel image function 05

I can reference cells containing IMAGEs in other formulas, for example I can use SORTBY to extract the flags sorted in order by country name as shown in column E below:

excel image function 06

Or use them with data validation and XLOOKUP to return the matching image:

excel image function gif

Or correspondingly lookup the image and return the country name from the FlagURLs table:

excel image function 07

Excel IMAGE Function Limitations

  • Currently only images saved on external sites are supported. Images on SharePoint or OneDrive or stored locally in the file are not supported.
  • If the URL requires authentication, the IMAGE function will not render.
  • Moving between Windows and Mac etc. may result in irregular image rendering.
  • Images don’t display in PivotTables, Slicers or Data Validation lists.
  • While the IMAGE function supports GIF files, they only appear as a static image:

excel image function 05

Hopefully the limitations above will be resolved before the IMAGE function is generally available.

excel image function

More Excel Formulas Posts

ai-aided excel formula editor

AI Aided Excel Formula Editor

Save time with this free AI Excel formula editor add-in that writes, edits, improves and interprets formulas for you!
top excel functions for data analysts

Top Excel Functions for Data Analysts

Must know Excel Functions for Data Analysts and what functions you don’t have to waste time learning and why.
excel advanced formula environment

Excel Advanced Formula Environment

Excel Advanced Formula Environment is a long awaited, new improved way to write, name and store Excel formulas.
Pro Excel Formula Writing Tips

Pro Excel Formula Writing Tips

Must know Excel formula writing tips, tricks and tools to make you an Excel formula ninja, including a new formula editor.
excel shaping arrays

New Array Shaping Excel Functions

The Excel Shaping Array Functions makes it easier than ever to reshape arrays and ranges using these purpose built functions
excel nested if functions what not to do

Excel IF Formulas and What Not To Do

Excel IF formulas can get out of hand when you nest too many IFs. Not only do they become unwieldy they’re difficult for anyone to understand

Excel VSTACK and HSTACK Functions

New Excel VSTACK and HSTACK functions makes combining arrays of cells easy and with some clever tricks we can extend their capabilities.
identify overlapping dates and times in excel

Identify overlapping dates and times in Excel

How to identify overlapping dates and times in Excel with a formula that checks a range of cells. Works with Dates and Times.
New Excel Text Functions

TEXTSPLIT, TEXTBEFORE and TEXTAFTER Functions

TEXTAFTER, TEXTBEFORE and TEXTSPLIT are exciting new Excel Text functions. They’re fairly self-explanatory, however TEXTSPLIT has some cool features.

Top 10 Intermediate Excel Functions

Take your Excel skills to the next level with this top 10 intermediate Excel functions. These are must know functions for all Excel users.


Category: Excel Formulas
Previous Post:Excel VSTACK and HSTACK Functions
Next Post:Excel IF Formulas and What Not To Doexcel nested if functions what not to do

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Andrea

    December 21, 2022 at 7:57 pm

    The function can be retroactive with older versions?

    If I open a file containing images imported with an older Excel version it will be okay or images will get an #ERROR?

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      December 21, 2022 at 8:00 pm

      The IMAGE function is not backward compatible. The user can open the file in Excel Online if they don’t have a compatible version.

      Reply
  2. Andrea

    December 21, 2022 at 7:43 pm

    Hi, I’m using the IMAGE function for creating product catalogs.

    The problem is that some customers said me that they don’t see the images.

    It’s really strange because I’ve tried to open the excel files from many devices and everytime I correctly visualized the images.

    When I open the file there’s a warning “Data connections have been blocked”, But I always can see the images imported by IMAGE() function.

    the link format for images is this: sample image

    It don’t seem to be a blocked content, it’s just a cached image on the website

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      December 21, 2022 at 7:52 pm

      I suspect the customers are not using Microsoft 365, which is required for this new function. If they have an older version of Excel, then the IMAGE function won’t work.

      Reply
      • Andrea

        December 21, 2022 at 7:58 pm

        As I thought, thanks for the explaining.

        Reply
  3. Alice

    November 15, 2022 at 7:13 am

    Hi, my IMAGE function doesn’t work.. i have updated my office version but still.. not working, what may I do? I have 2210 version

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      November 15, 2022 at 10:04 am

      Hi Alice, you need to be on the Office Insider beta channel.

      Reply
      • Alice

        November 16, 2022 at 2:17 am

        You are very kind, really, thank you very very much.

        Reply
  4. Ann K. Emery

    November 8, 2022 at 1:05 pm

    Nevermind, I solved it!

    (I closed Excel and reopened it, and then the regular ol’ align features were working. Phew!)

    Reply
  5. Ann K. Emery

    November 8, 2022 at 11:42 am

    Hi Mynda! Great article. I’m just using =image for the first time (connected to a slicer and some nested ifs! so fun!).

    Do you know if it’s possible to align the image within the cell, e.g., to the left, center, or right of a cell?

    Thanks.

    Reply
    • Mynda Treacy

      November 8, 2022 at 11:48 am

      Glad you like it, Ann! Yes, you can use the text alignment tools on the images 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Current ye@r *

Leave this field empty

Sidebar

More results...

Featured Content

  • 10 Common Excel Mistakes to Avoid
  • Top Excel Functions for Data Analysts
  • Secrets to Building Excel Dashboards in Less Than 15 Minutes
  • Pro Excel Formula Writing Tips
  • Hidden Excel Double-Click Shortcuts
  • Top 10 Intermediate Excel Functions
  • 5 Pro Excel Dashboard Design Tips
  • 5 Excel SUM Function Tricks
  • 239 Excel Keyboard Shortcuts

100 Excel Tips and Tricks eBook

Download Free Tips & Tricks

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Receive weekly tutorials on Excel, Power Query, Power Pivot, Power BI and More.

We respect your email privacy

Guides and Resources

  • Excel Keyboard Shortcuts
  • Excel Functions
  • Excel Formulas
  • Excel Custom Number Formatting
  • ALT Codes
  • Pivot Tables
  • VLOOKUP
  • VBA
  • Excel Userforms
  • Free Downloads

239 Excel Keyboard Shortcuts

Download Free PDF

Free Webinars

Excel Dashboards Webinar

Watch our free webinars and learn to create Interactive Dashboard Reports in Excel or Power BI

Click Here to Watch Now

mynda treacy microsoft mvpHi, I'm Mynda Treacy and I run MOTH with my husband, Phil. Through our blog, webinars, YouTube channel and courses we hope we can help you learn Excel, Power Pivot and DAX, Power Query, Power BI, and Excel Dashboards.

Blog Categories

  • Excel
  • Excel Charts
  • Excel Dashboard
  • Excel Formulas
  • Excel PivotTables
  • Excel Shortcuts
  • Excel VBA
  • General Tips
  • Online Training
  • Outlook
  • Power Apps
  • Power Automate
  • Power BI
  • Power Pivot
  • Power Query
microsoft mvp logo
trustpilot excellent rating
Secured by Sucuri Badge
MyOnlineTrainingHub on YouTube Mynda Treacy on Linked In Mynda Treacy on Instagram Mynda Treacy on Twitter Mynda Treacy on Pinterest MyOnlineTrainingHub on Facebook
 

Company

  • About My Online Training Hub
  • Disclosure Statement
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Guarantee
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Testimonials
  • Become an Affiliate

Support

  • Contact
  • Forum
  • Helpdesk – For Technical Issues

Copyright © 2023 · My Online Training Hub · All Rights Reserved. Microsoft and the Microsoft Office logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Product names, logos, brands, and other trademarks featured or referred to within this website are the property of their respective trademark holders.