Create a chart

Microsoft Office Excel 2003

  • Make sure the data on your worksheet is arranged properly for the type of chart you want to use.

    ShowFor a Column, Bar, Line, Area, Surface or Radar chart

    Column, Bar, Line, Area, Surface or Radar chart

    Arrange your data in columns, like this:

    Lorem Ipsum
    1 2
    3 4

    or in rows, like this:

    Lorem 1 3
    Ipsum 2 4

    ShowFor a Pie or Doughnut chart

    Pie or doughnut chart

    Regular pie charts (like the chart on the right in the example) have only one series of data, so you should use only one column of data. You can also use one column of labels for the data, like this:

    A 1
    B 2
    C 3

    or use one row of data, and, if you like, one row of labels:

    A B C
    1 2 3

    Stacked pie charts and doughnut charts can have more than one series of data, so you can use more than one column of data, like this:

    A 1 2
    B 3 4
    C 5 6

    or more than one row of data, like this:

    A B C
    1 2 3
    4 5 6

    ShowFor an XY scatter or Bubble chart

    XY scatter or bubble chart

    Arrange your data in columns, with x values in the first column and corresponding y values and/or bubble size values in adjacent columns, like this:

    X Y Bubble
    1 2 3
    4 5 6

    ShowFor a Stock chart

    Stock chart

    Arrange your data in this order: high values, low values, and closing values. Use names or dates as labels, like this:

    Date High Low Close
    1/1/2002 46.125 42 44.063
  • Do one of the following:

    ShowCustomize your chart as you create it.

    1. Select the cells that contain the data you want to use for your chart.
    2. Click Chart Wizard Button image.
    3. Follow the instructions in the Chart Wizard.

    ShowCreate a basic chart that you can customize later.

    1. Display the Chart toolbar. To show the Chart toolbar, point to Toolbars on the View menu and then click Chart.
    2. Select the cells that contain the data you want to use for your chart.
    3. Click Chart Type Button image.
  • ShowTip

    If the cells you want to select for your chart are not in a continuous range, do the following:

    Select the first group of cells that contain the data you want to include. While holding down CTRL, select any additional cell groups you want to include. The nonadjacent selections must form a rectangle.

    Nonadjacent selections treated as rectangle