How to Make a Graph in Excel - Make Your Data Talk With Visual Charts! | MyExcelOnlineMost organizations discover information technology challenging to create reports or make decisions by analyzing huge amounts of data spread beyond various Excel spreadsheets. This is where Excel Graphs comes into action!

Learning how to make a Graph in Excel can make your report aesthetically pleasing and easy to analyze!

Graphs tin can be used to catechumen a plethora of rows and columns in Excel into unproblematic charts that are piece of cake to evaluate.

In this step by step tutorial on How to Make a Graph in Excel, you lot volition acquire the nuts of an Excel Chart, including:

  • How to Create a Graph in Excel
  • Dissimilar Types of Excel Charts
  • Customize an Excel Nautical chart
  • Salvage Chart as a Template

Make sure to download the practise workbook to follow forth and larn how to make a graph in Excel:

How to Make a Graph in Excel - Make Your Data Talk With Visual Charts! | MyExcelOnline

How to Create a Graph in Excel

Excel Charts are visual representations of data that are used to brand sense to the gazillion amounts of data jammed into rows and columns. Information technology is essential to learn how to create a graph in Excel if we desire to obtain more than information from the information. Charts are extremely useful to:

  • Understand the significant behind the numbers
  • Summarize large amounts of data
  • Draw comparisons between data sets
  • Spot information outliers that are unrelated to the rest of the information
  • Identify data trends & patterns

You tin can either work on existing data stored in Excel or you lot tin import data from other applications. But keep in mind that the data should accept headers and no blank rows.

In the case below, we have monthly sales data recorded in Excel and want to know which calendar month achieved the highest and lowest sales:

how to make a graph in excel

Below is the step-by-step tutorial on How to Create a Graph in Excel:

Step one: Select the range of data (B3: C15) in Excel

select data in excel

Stride two:Go to Insert Tab

 insert-tab-in-excel

Pace 3: Under the Charts group, you can choose from a diverseness of nautical chart types available or select Recommended Charts to allow Excel decide the appropriate chart for your data.

recommended-charts-in-excel

Step 4: The Insert Chart dialog box will open and from the left panel you lot can select the chart based on a chart preview. Based on our data, a clustered cavalcade chart will be the most appropriate. And so, you tin select that and click OK.

 insert chart dialog box in excel

This volition create a Graph in Excel with each bar representing a calendar month.

From this visual representation of monthly sales data, you tin easily spot that the highest sales are achieved in July and the lowest in September.

column-bar-in-excel

You lot tin even update the data used to brand your Excel graph.

Let'southward say yous want to remove months, November and December, from the chart created using the step-by-stride tutorial on how to make a graph in Excel in a higher place. You can apply either of the two methods mentioned below to do and so:

Method 1:

Method 2:

Now that you are familiar with how to brand a graph in Excel, let'south move on to the different types of Excel Charts bachelor and their uses.

Types of Excel Chart

The different types of Excel Charts are elaborately explained here:

  1. Column Nautical chart – Utilise this Chart if yous have less than 12 information points & desire to show trends East.thou. Monthly or Annual data points: Column charts are used to visually compare values across a few categories by using vertical confined. In this graph below, each vertical bar represents a month and the vertical axis represents the sales month. This is an case of a Clustered Column chart.
    How to Make a Graph in Excel - Make Your Data Talk With Visual Charts! | MyExcelOnline
    Excel offers seven different column chart types: clustered, stacked, 100% stacked, iii-D clustered, three-D stacked, iii-D 100% stacked, and iii-D.
  2. Line Nautical chart – Use this Chart if you lot accept more than 12 data points & want to show trends E.grand. Historic results or Statistical data: Line charts are used to display trends over time. In this graph below, information technology shows the sales trend over the months. There are 7 different line charts available on Excel – line, stacked line, 100% stacked line, line with markers, stacked line with markers, 100% stacked line with markers, and 3-D line.
    line chart in excel
  3. Pie Chart – Apply this Nautical chart for component comparisons only (Sums to 100%) East.m. Market share: Pie charts are used to display the contribution of each value (slice) to a total (pie). Information technology can quantify items and show them equally a per centum where the total of the numbers is 100%. In this graph below, each pie shows the percent of sales of a item calendar month.
    How to Make a Graph in Excel - Make Your Data Talk With Visual Charts! | MyExcelOnline
    Excel offers v different pie chart types: pie, pie of pie (this breaks out one piece of the pie into another pie to prove the sub-category), bar of pie, three-D pie, and doughnut.
  4. Bar Chart – Use this Nautical chart if yous have long names and want to compare E.grand. Competitor assay: It is similar to a Cavalcade nautical chart merely hither the constant value is assigned to Y-centrality and the variable is assigned to X-axis. In this graph below, each bar represents a sales amount for each month.
    bar chart in excel.

Y'all can also accept a look at this video by Microsoft on how to make a graph in Excel.

There are other chart types bachelor in Excel like Area Chart, Surface Chart, Radar Chart, Funnel Nautical chart, etc. You tin can as well create a graph called the Combo Nautical chart that displays multiple sets of information in unlike ways on the same nautical chart.

You tin even look at this web log to view our Excel Chart Infographic  and also learn most the new Excel Charts that were introduced in 2016.

At present that you have understood How to Make a Graph in Excel and the different types of Excel Charts that are available, it is essential to customize the chart to raise its appeal.

Customize an Excel chart

When you create a graph in Excel and so click on information technology, yous will come across 2 new tabs appearing on the Excel Ribbon – Chart Pattern & Format. These two tabs tin be used to customize the chart as per your requirements.

Chart Design Tab –

Chart Desgin Tab in Excel

Chart Design Tab in Excel contains design commands including Chart Layout, Chart Styles, Switch Row/Column, Select Data, Modify Chart Type & Move Chart.

Format Tab –

Format Tab in Excel

This ribbon contains format commands like Current Selection, Insert Shape, Shape Styles, WordArt Styles, Arrange Group & Size Grouping.

You can too click on the chart and access the Nautical chart Elements button on the upper-right corner of the chart. It contains three options – Nautical chart Elements, Chart Style and Chart Filters

Chart Elements button in Excel

Nautical chart Element Pick (with the + sign icon)

Using this option yous can customize dissimilar chart elements similar Chart Title, Axes, Centrality Title, Data Labels, Data Table, Mistake Bars, Legend, Gridlines, and Trendline.

To add or remove a nautical chart element, you can simply use the Chart Chemical element Options and check or un-check the boxes you want to show or hibernate.

For example, if you lot have monthly sales data including sales amount and boilerplate sales and yous can create a cavalcade chart using that information.

How to make a graph in excel - column chart

Now if you wish to add a Legend keyto your chart, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Click on the Chart.

chart element options

Step 2: Click on the + sign icon to access the Chart Elements Options.

+ sign icon excel chart

Step 3:Bank check the box adjacent to Legend.

How to make a column chart in excel

This will add a legend keys side by side to the chart. To make farther customizations like shifting the legend keys to the lesser of the chart: Point to Legend, select the arrow side by side to it and select bottom.

How to make a column chart in excel

Chart Style

Afterwards you lot have learned How to Make a Graph in Excel and customize the elements, you should move on to making the charts more impactful.  Y'all tin can change the style or color of your chart using this step by stride tutorial below:

Step 1: Click on the nautical chart yous want to change

charts in excel

Step two: Click on the Brush icon in the upper right corner of the nautical chart

brush icon in excel

Step 3: ClickStyle or Colour and choice the option you want.

excel chart style excel chart color

Step 4: Y'all tin scroll below the different options available and hover over them to get a preview of the styles and colors bachelor and select the one that suits y'all the best.

edited chart in excel

This is how your edited chart volition look like. Pretty cool right? 🙂

Learning how to make a graph in Excel is not enough. Y'all can match the mode and color of the nautical chart every bit per your visitor theme colors, font, and layout.

Chart Filters

Ever faced a situation where you desire to display only certain data for an Excel Chart. Hither is a tutorial on How to Create Graphs in Excel with Filters. Follow the steps below:

Step 1: Click anywhere on the nautical chart

How to Make a Graph in Excel - Make Your Data Talk With Visual Charts! | MyExcelOnline

Stride 2: Click on the Chart Filter push button on the upper right corner of the chart

filter button in excel

Footstep 3: On the Values tab, you can hover the Categories and the corresponding data for that category will exist highlighted. In the example beneath, when y'all hover over February with your mouse pointer, yous can run across the bar of February in the Chart beingness highlighted.  Cool!

filtered data in excel

Step 4: To filter the data, you tin can check or uncheck the series or categories you desire to bear witness or hide. In the example beneath, I have checked the first 4 months (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr) and clicked on Apply.

How to Make a Graph in Excel - Make Your Data Talk With Visual Charts! | MyExcelOnline

This will let you filter the data in your Excel Charts and allow y'all to select the data yous want to display or hibernate.

Salvage as Chart Template

Imagine you have around 20 charts that you want to create in Excel. You went through all the steps mentioned to a higher place to add together Chart Elements, Customize a Layout and Style, and created an excellent Chart.

Now, are you ready to repeat all these steps for the remaining 19 Charts? Well, yous don't have to exercise that.

Y'all can Save the Chart every bit Template so only utilise that template for the remaining charts. Let united states of america follow the steps beneath and learn how to create a graph in Excel and salvage it as a template:

Step 1: Correct Click on your perfect Chart

right click on excel chart

Step ii: Click on Relieve equally Template

How to Make a Graph in Excel - Make Your Data Talk With Visual Charts! | MyExcelOnline

Step 3: In the Salve Chart Template dialog box, give your template a "proper noun" and click on Save.

save chart template dialog box excel

Step 4: Now you move to the next chart where you lot want to paste this format.

make a graph

Footstep v: Right-click on that chart and select Alter Chart Blazon

make a graph

Step 6: In the Change Chart Type dialog box, nether the All Charts tab click on Templates and and then select the template you have saved. Click OK.

change chart type dialog box

Your second nautical chart will automatically change to the format of your saved template!

Using the steps mentioned above, yous tin can learn non simply how to make a graph in Excel but likewise how to salvage the created graph equally a template and reuse it whenever y'all want.

create a graph

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you have learned how to make a graph in Excel, the different types of Excel charts, how to customize an Excel Chart, and save a nautical chart equally a Template.

You can acquire more about How to Make a Graph in Excel by viewing our Complimentary Excel tutorials on Excel Charts!

Make certain to download our Costless PDF on the 333 Excel keyboard Shortcuts here:

How to Make a Graph in Excel - Make Your Data Talk With Visual Charts! | MyExcelOnline

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