Making a chart in Excel: how it works

Select your labels and numbers with their headings, and choose Insert > Charts. A line shows a trend, a column compares, a pie shows parts of a whole.

Try the first exercises for freeIn the lesson Creating a chart

How do you make a chart?

A chart shows at a glance what's hidden in a table: which region sells best, how revenue is growing, which part of the budget goes where. You select the data and choose a type of chart; Excel draws the rest.

Which chart you choose depends on your question. A line shows a trend over time, a column or bar compares groups, and a pie shows parts of a whole. Also give your chart a title that says what the reader should remember.

Which chart do you choose when?

How does revenue change per month? A line chart.
Which region sells the most? A column chart, or a bar chart for long names.
What share does each product have in the total? A pie chart, with five or six slices at most.
This year versus last year, per month: a line or column chart with two series.

Making a chart, step by step

This is how to go about it:

Select your data with the headings: the labels in the first column and the numbers next to them. Leave out the total row.
Choose Insert > Recommended Charts, or choose a type yourself in the Charts group.
Click the chart and choose the plus sign next to it, Chart Elements, to add or remove a title, data labels or a legend.
Type a title that says what you see, such as: Revenue has been growing since March.
If a number in the table changes, the chart adjusts automatically.

A title that says something

'Revenue per month' describes what's there. 'Revenue growing since March' says what your reader should remember.

Where it often goes wrong

Don't include the total row, because that bar makes all the others small.
A pie with ten slices is unreadable. Use a sorted bar chart instead.
If you don't select the labels too, the axis only shows 1, 2, 3.

Want to try it yourself?
Practise this in the lesson Creating a chart. The first exercises are free.

Try the first exercises for free

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between a column chart and a bar chart?

A column chart has upright bars, a bar chart horizontal ones. With long names, the bar chart is easier to read.