I want to "Place over Cell" a picture in excel? The system will only allow me to "Place in Cell" WHY??????

M Levinson 20 Reputation points
2026-06-15T16:43:43.4766667+00:00

The Excel system will not allow me to use the Place over Cell". "Drop down from pictures does have both "Place in Cell" and "Place over Cell". But the "Place over Cell" does not work. It only gives me the choice to "Place in Cell", which I do not want.

I must be doing something wrong. Can you please explain to me how to use "Place over Cell"?

I click on Insert, then the drop down appears, I select "Place over Cell", then select,"This Device", then select my picture. I I'm using the "INDIRECT" function. The two sheets I am using is "Score Sheet" and "Suite" on "Score Sheet" column "D" has a drop down which to select either one of the 4-Suites. When a suite is selected a picture of the suite is input into column "C". I can only use this when I input the picture into the cell on the "Suit" sheet.

Then problems. When I save the sheet and reopen it the picture disappears and in its place is the words unknown.

Do I name the Picture in the "Suite" sheet to match with the drop down in the "Score Sheet" or, do I name the cell in the "Suite" sheet to match with the drop down in the "Score Sheet".?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows
Answer accepted by question author
Kai-H 27,225 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-06-16T06:27:43.0866667+00:00

Hi, M Levinson

This sounds less like something happened with Excel’s newer “picture in cell” feature, especially when the picture is being returned through a formula such as INDIRECT. Microsoft’s IMAGE function is also not meant for local pictures from your PC, it expects an https image source, so it is not a good fit for offline suite pictures.

Here are some suggestions you can try:

If you want the picture to change when you pick a suite from the drop-down, name the cell/range that contains the picture, not the picture object itself. For example, on the Suite sheet, put each suite picture in its own cell or small range, then create names such as Suite1, Suite2, Suite3, Suite4 in Formulas > Name Manager. Your drop-down values on Score Sheet should match those defined names exactly. If the drop-down says “Presidential Suite”, but the defined name is “Presidential_Suite”, INDIRECT will not match it unless you adjust the text.

For a more stable setup, it is recommended that you avoid true “Place in Cell” pictures for this workbook and use a linked picture instead. Insert the suite pictures as normal pictures over cells on the Suite sheet, size them where you want, then create named ranges for the cells behind them. On the Score Sheet, use the linked-picture/camera method to display the named range based on the drop-down choice. That keeps the displayed picture floating over the sheet, while the formula only controls which named range is shown.

Also check that the workbook is saved as .xlsx or .xlsm, not an older .xls format. If reopening still changes the pictures to #UNKNOWN, try opening the same file in Excel for the web. Several reports point to this happening mainly in the desktop app with in-cell pictures, while over-cell pictures tend to survive reopening better.

Thank you for your patience in reading, I hope this information has been helpful to you. 

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