How to create a chart in Excel

A chart turns a wall of numbers into a story people understand in seconds. Excel will draw one straight from your data with a single key press, so you can spend your time on the insight, not the formatting.

Step by step

1. Select your data, including the header row.
2. Press Alt+F1 to insert a chart next to your data on the same sheet.
3. Or press F11 to put the chart on its own new chart sheet.
4. Use the Chart Design tab to change the chart type or style.

Tips & troubleshooting

• Build your chart from a table (Ctrl+T) and it updates automatically as you add rows.
• On many laptops you need Fn with the function keys.

Prepare the data first

The one-key chart is only as good as the range you give it.

• Put labels in the first column and a heading at the top of every column of numbers.
• Leave out total rows and columns, or the total will dwarf everything else.
• Remove blank rows and columns inside the data.
• To chart columns that are not next to each other, select the first, then hold Ctrl and select the others before pressing Alt+F1.
• If only one cell is selected, Excel charts the whole block around it.

Choosing the right chart

• Column or bar: comparing values across categories, such as sales by region. Use bars when the labels are long.
• Line: change over time, such as monthly revenue.
• Pie: parts of a single whole, and only when there are a handful of slices.
• Scatter: the relationship between two sets of numbers, such as price against units sold.
• Not sure? Select the data and press Ctrl+Q for Quick Analysis, or choose Insert, Recommended Charts, to preview options built from your own data.

Change what Alt+F1 creates

Alt+F1 and F11 insert your default chart type, which starts out as a clustered column. To change it, go to Insert, Recommended Charts, open the All Charts tab, right-click the type you use most and choose Set as Default Chart.

After the chart appears

• Give it a title that states the point, such as North region overtook South in Q3, rather than just Sales.
• Use the plus button beside the chart to add or remove elements such as data labels and the legend.
• Chart Design, Move Chart sends it to its own sheet or brings it back.
• Build the chart from an Excel table (Ctrl+T) and new rows appear in it automatically.