Beginner's Guide to Creating Excel Charts

Patterns and relationships between numbers are often easier to recognize when shown in a chart. This beginner's guide provides step-by-step directions for creating charts in all versions of Excel, and briefly discusses the four most popular chart types.

Author: Patricia Lynn

In Microsoft Excel, a chart may be created and placed inside a worksheet alongside the data, or placed in its own worksheet. Excel Charts can be copied to other software programs such as PowerPoint.

If you like video-based introduction, check out Excel 2010 Tutorial for Beginners. We've reviewed this course (over 9 hours of hands-on lessons) and found it very well done.

If you're familiar with charting in Microsoft Excel and would like help customizing your Excel 2007 or 2010 chart, see Customize for Great Looking Charts. OK. Let's learn how to create charts in Microsoft Excel!

Selecting Data for an Excel Chart

First, select the cells that contain the values you want shown in the chart. Click and drag the cursor from the top left cell to the bottom right cell - including column and row headings when possible. If your worksheet has a Totals column like in our worksheet above (e.g. Year), this data is typically not charted.

Non-contiguous rows and columns of cells can be selected by pressing and holding the Ctrl key while selecting each group of cells.

A data series is a related set of data points. In the image above, we selected a single series, Flowers. It is outlined in red. Many chart types allow us to plot multiple series. If we had selected Flowers, Shrubs, and Trees, we would be charting 3 series.

How to Create a Chart in Microsoft Excel

After selecting the cells, follow the steps below to create the chart. (Note: In Excel 2007/2010, hover the cursor over a chart type or sub-type on the Insert ribbon to display a description of the chart. In older versions of Excel, click the chart type or sub-type in the Chart Wizard to display a description of the chart.)

Create a chart in Excel 2007 and 2010

Note: In the new versions of Excel, hover the cursor over a chart type or sub-type on the Insert ribbon to display a description of the chart.

• Click the Insert tab.
• Click the chart type from the Charts section of the ribbon. The sub-type menu displays.
• Click the desired chart sub-type. The chart appears on the worksheet.
• If you want to create a second chart, click somewhere in the worksheet to "deselect" the current chart first, or the new chart will replace the current chart.

Create a chart in Excel 2003, 2000, and 98

Note: In older versions of Excel, click the chart type or sub-type in the Chart Wizard to display a description of the chart.

• Click Insert | Chart. The Chart Wizard appears.
• Step 1: Click the desired chart type in the left column, and click one of the chart sub-types in the right column. Click Next.
• Step 2: Excel assumes you wish to keep the series data in rows. You may click "Columns" to see how the chart changes. When finished, click Next.
• Step 3: Type a chart title. If you wish to add a title for the axes, do so. Then click Next.
• Step 4: Excel assumes you want the chart placed on the worksheet. If you would like the chart placed in a new sheet, click the radio button, type a sheet name, and click Finish.

Choosing the Chart Type

The type of data to be charted usually determines the chart type. If multiple chart types can be used for your data, choose the chart type that will help the user best visualize the patterns and relationships between the data values.

The 4 most popular chart types in Excel are described below, along with the best use of each chart type. Remember that a "series" is a group of related values as discussed at the beginning of this guide. For detailed descriptions of all chart types available in Excel, see our tutorial Excel Chart Types: Pie, Column, Line, Bar, Area, and Scatter Charts.

Type		Description	When to Use
Pie Chart		Displays the percentages of a whole for each member in a series.	Excellent chart for comparing values in a single series as percentages of a whole.
Column Chart		Using vertical columns, displays values for one or more series over time or other category.	This chart type is especially effective in comparing values for multiple series. The 3-D Column chart displays multiple series over three axes (X, Y, and Z).
Bar Chart		Displays values for one or more series using horizontal columns.	Though useful for single or multiple series, this chart type is especially effective in comparing a large quantity of values in a single series.
Line Chart		Displays values as equally spaced points connected with a line.	This chart is especially useful in displaying trends over time or other ordered category for single or multiple series of data.

How to Delete, Move, and Resize a Chart

To select an existing chart, click on its border, or click in an empty space inside the chart. When selecting a chart, be careful not to click on an element inside the chart or that element will be selected instead.

To delete a chart that has just been created, click the Excel Undo button. To delete an existing chart, select the chart and press the Delete key, or right-click and select Cut.

To move a chart to a different place on the worksheet, select the chart and drag it to the desired location.

To move a chart to a new or different worksheet in the same workbook, select the chart, right-click, and select Move Chart. Then choose the sheet or type in a new sheet name, and click OK.

To resize a chart, select the chart and drag any of the chart's corners.

Final Thoughts

For best results, keep the Excel chart simple and uncluttered. It is better to use multiple charts to express patterns and relationships between data than to use one chart that is too busy and over-complicated.

A colorful chart is ideal for online presentations or for printing on a color printer. But shades of gray are best for monochrome printing of charts.

We hope this article has been helpful. Cheers!

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