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Earlier versions of Word for Mac let me link an image without embedding it, so that

a) the Word file itself didn't bloat, and

b) I could modify the image once, and have the changes show in every document that used it.

None of the web tips I've found applies to Mac Word 2016… the options they mention have gone from the Insert Picture interface. Is there an Easter egg hiding somewhere?

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  1. Insert → Field (from the menu or ribbon).
  2. Choose Links and References → Include Picture.

  3. Add double quotes to the end of the ‘INCLUDEPICTURE’ string and enter the URL of the image.

  4. To prevent Word from caching the picture which would increase the file size, and to require Word to the image to be downloaded each time, choose Options…, then add switch \d.

    \d Graphic data is not stored with the document, reducing the file size.

  5. Click OK on both dialogs to insert the image.
    The image will need to be downloaded by Word, which will likely prompt you to confirm this.

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  • You may be able to user the file link to get the document on your startup drive: file:///Users/mac/Documents/css-12-15-2018
    – historystamp
    Commented May 11, 2019 at 19:35
  • Thank you @grg and historystamp. I was hoping to avoid all the inserting of field & options, copying and pasting filename and path… and what do you know! Lo and BEHOLD!
    – David Knapp
    Commented May 13, 2019 at 10:53
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    Sorry! Ran out of time there. The method works, but it's painfully slow. Is there a way to copy the INCLUDEPICTURE field and then just change the path+file parameter, without going back to Insert>Field etc?
    – David Knapp
    Commented May 13, 2019 at 11:15

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