How to Create a Bar Graph in Excel: 10 Steps (with Pictures)

2024 Author: Jason Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-15 08:07

This wikiHow teaches you how to visually represent data in Microsoft Excel using bar charts.

Step

Part 1 of 1: Adding Data

Step 1. Open Microsoft Excel

This program is marked with an icon resembling the letter “E” in white on a green background.

If you want to create a graph from existing data, double-click the Excel document containing the desired data to open it and follow the next method

Step 2. Click Blank workbook (PC) or Excel Workbook (Mac)

It's in the upper-left corner of the template window.

Step 3. Add labels for the X and Y axes

To add it, click the box A1 (X-axis) and type in the desired label. Do the same for the box B1 (Y axis).

For example, for a graph of temperature measurements for a week, you could label column A1 with “Days” and column B1 with “Temperature”

Step 4.

Enter data on the X and Y axes.

To enter it, type a number or word in the “A” and “B” columns to display it on the X and Y axes.

For example, type "Monday" into the box A2 and “31” in the box B2 to represent a temperature of 31 degrees Celsius on Monday.

Complete your data entry. After data entry is completed, the data is ready to be used as a bar graph.

Creating Graphics

1. Select all data. To do so, click the box A1 and hold down the Shift key, then click the last box containing the data in the column B.

   

   If your chart uses multiple columns of letters, numbers, and so on, simply click the first box (at the top left of the document sheet) in the data group and click the last box containing the data in the lower right corner of the sheet while holding down Shift

2. Click the Insert tab. It's at the top of the Excel window, right next to the “Home” tab.

   

3. Click the "Bar chart" icon. This icon appears in the “Charts” menu group, below and to the right of the “Insert” tab. Also, the icon looks like three vertical bars.

   

4. Click the bar graph option. The available templates will vary depending on the operating system and Excel purchase status. However, there are some options that are quite popular, such as:

   

   • 2-D Column – Data is displayed in simple vertical bars/bars.
   • 3-D Column - Data is displayed in three-dimensional vertical bars.
   • 2-D Bar – Data is displayed in simple horizontal bars instead of vertical bars.
   • 3-D Bar – Data is displayed in a three-dimensional horizontal bar.

5. Customize graphic appearance. Once you've selected the format, you can take advantage of the “Design” settings (shown at the top of the Excel window) to choose a different template, change the color, or change the chart type entirely.

   

   • The “Design” window only appears when your graphic is selected. To select it, you just need to click on it.
   • You can also click the chart title to select it and type a new title. The title of the chart is usually displayed at the top of the chart window.

   Tips

   Graphics created can be copied and pasted (copy - paste) in other Microsoft Office programs, such as Microsoft Word or Microsoft PowerPoint