Creating and using Chart options in MS Excel

Charts àColumn

A chart is a tool you can use in Excel to communicate your data graphically. Charts allow your audience to more easily see the meaning behind the numbers in the spreadsheet, and make showing comparisons and trends a lot easier.

To Create a Chart:

Select the cells that you want to chart, including the column titles and the row labels.
Click the Insert
Hover over each Chart option in the Charts group to learn more about it.
Select one of the Chart options. In this example, we use the Columns command.
Select a type of chart from the list that appears. For this example, we use a 2-D Clustered Column. The chart appears in the worksheet.

Identifying the Parts of a Chart

To Change the Chart Type:

Select the Design
Click the Change Chart Type A dialog box appears.
Select another chart type.
Click OK.

To Change Chart Layout:

Select the Design
Locate the Chart Layouts
Click the Morearrow to view all your layout options.
Left-click a layout to select it.

To Change Chart Style:

Select the Design
Locate the Chart Style
Click the Morearrow to view all your style options.
Left-click a style to select it.

To Move the Chart to a Different Worksheet:

Select the Design
Click the Move Chart A dialog box appears. The current location of the chart is selected.
Select the desired location for the chart (i.e., choose an existing worksheet, or select New Sheet and name it).

Charts à Line

Data that is arranged in columns or rows on a worksheet can be plotted in a line chart. Line charts can display continuous data over time, set against a common scale, and are therefore ideal for showing trends in data at equal intervals.