How to build a chart in Excel: instruction

When it comes to working with data, most users prefer to use Excel. It is great for building databases. Charts are often used to visualize this very data. In the office spreadsheet editor, this feature is also present, even in several variations. This article will talk about how to build a chart in Excel step by step.

Types of Charts in Excel

Before proceeding to the instructions on how to build a chart in Excel, you should pay attention to their diversity. In total, you can use six types:

• bar chart;
• ruler;
• point;
• schedule;
• with areas;
• circular.

Each of them is used for different purposes, often to display a certain diagram there are special requirements for entering data records in the table. All this will be discussed in detail later.

How to build a chart on a table in Excel

To create a chart, you must directly make a table by writing in it the data necessary to display the chart itself. This must be done first. We will consider an example involving the use of a table with two variables: “Product Name”, where the names of various products will be entered, and “Quantity”, respectively, where the quantity of these products will be indicated in numerical format. So, in order to build a diagram according to a given table, you must do the following:

1. Holding the left mouse button (LMB), select the range of cells in the table.
2. Click the Insert tab.
3. In the Charts tool group on the toolbar, their views will be located. Decide for yourself suitable and click LMB on the corresponding button. If you were thinking how to build a pie chart in Excel, then you need to click on the button with the same name. If necessary, you can click the "Other" button, after which a pop-up menu will appear in which additional types of diagrams will be offered.
4. Click on the "Charts" icon, a drop-down menu will appear in which you are asked to select its subtype. To do this, click LMB on the desired one.

Do all the above steps, and the same chart will appear on the sheet of the Excel workbook. If you did everything correctly, it will display exactly those values ​​that are recorded in the table.

Work with charts

You already know how to build a chart in Excel from the data, however, the result may not be the same as it seemed in your head. In this case, you need to use special tools for editing diagrams. They are located in the group of tabs “Working with charts” on the tabs “Designer”, “Layout” and “Format”. Let’s figure out how to use frequently used tools.

Often, the user needs to give the chart a name so that it immediately becomes clear what indicators it displays. To do this, you must:

1. Go to the "Layout" tab.
2. On the toolbar, click the "Chart Name" button.
3. From the drop-down menu that appears, select the location of the inscription: above the diagram or in the center with overlapping. If necessary, you can choose another place, for this, click on the "Advanced header options" button.
4. A text box appears within the chart. In it you need to enter directly its name itself and press Enter.

In addition to the name of the chart itself, sometimes there is a need to rename the axis. This is done in a similar way, only instead of the "Chart Name" button, on the "Layout" tab toolbar, you need to click the "Axis Name" button. A drop-down menu will open in which you need to select the location of the names and enter the text directly.

Chart percentage display

Sometimes it is vital for users that the data in the diagram, in addition to the graphical and actual display of the data, is also displayed as a percentage. Now we will tell you how to build a chart in Excel of this type. We will perform all the actions on a pie chart, it is it that is best suited for this. However, no one forbids doing this on other species.

1. Select the table data that will be used to build the chart.
2. On the toolbar in the "Insert" tab, click on the "Circular" button located in the "Charts" tool group.
3. From the drop-down menu, determine for yourself the most suitable form. It is recommended to choose the standard one (first in the list).
4. A corresponding chart will appear on the sheet of the book, however, without displaying the percentage of data. To do this, go to the "Designer" tab.
5. Click on the “Express Layout” button.
6. From the drop-down menu, select the first item. It is he who implies the addition of the desired element.

As soon as you do this, new elements will appear on the chart - the percentage of all table variables. Now you know not only how to build charts in Excel, but how to enable percent display.

How to build a Pareto diagram?

The Pareto diagram is designed to visually show the most effective and profitable actions in one or another of their manifestations. It is best to build using an example. So, we will add one more column to our table - “Profit”. Having all these indicators, it will turn out to build a Pareto diagram. So:

1. Select all the data in the table.
2. Click on the “Histogram” button.
3. In the menu that appears, select the very first item.

A histogram constructed based on the set values ​​appears. As you can see, it displays two columns. To make a Pareto chart, you need to convert the red bar into a line. This is done as follows:

1. Select all the red bars.
2. On the "Design" tab, click on the "Change chart type" button.
3. In the window that appears, go to the "Chart" category and select the very first item in this list.

Immediately after this, the red bars are transformed into a line, respectively, the Pareto diagram is built.

Finally

So we figured out how to build a chart in Excel. As you can see, this is not so difficult. The variety of types of diagrams can be confusing, which is an undoubted advantage of the program. For a better understanding of all the nuances of construction, it is recommended to independently add all the diagrams to the sheet.