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Add tables and data
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Export to EPUB
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Import text files
Last updated on
Jun 2, 2026
Learn how to import, link, or embed text and spreadsheet files in Adobe InDesign.
When you place a text or spreadsheet file, you can specify import options to control how formatting, styles, tables, and other content are handled. Placing text is the recommended way to import large amounts of content from word-processing or spreadsheet applications because it offers more control than typing or pasting.
You can choose whether imported files are linked or embedded, whether text flows into an existing frame or a new frame, and how formatting is preserved.
Import text
Navigate and select your text file.
Select Show Import Options if you want to control formatting, styles, or other import settings before placing the file.
Select Replace Selected Item if you want the imported text to replace content in a currently selected frame, otherwise leave this deselected to create a new frame.
Select Open.
Set import options (if selected), and then select OK.
Select anywhere on your page to create a new text frame at that location or select inside an existing text frame to add the text there.
Link or embed imported text files
By default, text files you place in InDesign are embedded and not linked to the original file. You can change this behavior so that placed text files are linked, allowing you to manage and update them from the Links panel.
When you update a linked text file, any edits or formatting applied in InDesign are replaced by the source file content. To prevent accidental overwrites, linked text files are not updated automatically.
Open a document to apply the change to it. Close all documents to apply the change to new documents you create.
Select Edit > Preferences > File Handling (Windows) or InDesign > Preferences > File Handling (macOS).
Select Create Links When Placing Text and Spreadsheet Files to create links in the placed files.
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