These general instructions are meant to guide you in creating an Excel chart. The example shown is just that; an example. You will have to modify the instructions to accommodate the specific data that you are working with. Here are the basic steps:
Use the mouse to select the column or columns that contain the data that you want to chart. To select data in two or more adjacent columns, highlight all of the columns at once. To select data in non-adjacent columns, highlight one column and let up on the mouse button. Hold the control key (CTRL) down as you highlight each additional column. (You can also create charts based on rows of data.)
When selecting a single column of data, it is not necessary to include the column heading. However, when selecting two or more columns, it is often useful to include the column headings which will be used to create the chart legend for column and line charts.
Click the Insert tab:
In the Charts group, select the type of chart you want to create:
Once you have selected a chart type, select the desired subtype. In the illustration below, the user selected the line chart button and then choose the subtype that displays only two-dimensional lines (without data markers):
Once you have selected a chart subtype, Excel will create a basic chart based on the column(s) of data you selected. In the example shown below, the data in the column labeled "Final Balance" was selected before inserting a line chart. The thick light blue border around the chart indicates that it is currently active.
When Excel creates the basic chart, it also automatically selects the chart design tab. Click on the Select Data button in the Data group:
In the Select Data Source dialog, the chart data range is given near the top. To change the horizontal axis labels, click the Edit button in the Horizontal Axis Labels section of the dialog:
When the Axis Labels dialog appears, highlight the column that contains the row headings corresponding to your data. In our example, the row headings are the year values. The range of cells that you select, will become the Axis label range as shown below. You should also observe that the labels on the chart (partially obscured by the Axis Labels dialog box, have changed accordingly.
By default, the new chart is inserted as an object on the sheet containing the data that you selected. The chart can also be created as a new sheet in the current workbook. Still on the Design tab, select the Move Chart button at the far right:
You'll notice in the Move Chart dialog shown below that the default location of the chart is as an object in the current worksheet (which happened to be Sheet1 in the example).
However, you can elect to create the chart as a new worksheet by clicking the New Sheet radio button and supplying the name of the sheet. In the example below, for example, the chart would be created as a new sheet named "Balance Chart".
With the chart active, begin by clicking the Layout tab in the chart tools section:
In the Labels section, select the Chart Title tool button and then the Above Chart option as shown below. Excel will add a default chart title but you can type in whatever title you want.
Still in the Labels section, select the Axis Titles tool, the Primary Horizontal Axis Title option, and the Title Below Axis option (see below). Excel will add a default horizontal axis title but you can type in whatever title you want.
Finally, select the Axis Titles tool, the Primary Vertical Axis option, and the Rotated Title option (see below). Excel will add a default vertical axis title but you can type in whatever title you want.
When you have charted a single column of data, you will need to remove the legend because it is not needed. Select the Legend tool (in the Labels section) and the None option:
Right-click on the vertical axis or any vertical axis label and select the "Format Axis" option in the pop-up menu (see the illustration below). Doing this will open a Format Axis dialog that allows you to modify just about any property of the vertical axis.
In a similar fashion, you can format the horizontal axis by right-clicking on the horizontal axis or any horizontal axis label and choosing the "Format Axis" option in the pop-up menu.
If you create a chart as an object on an existing sheet, you can move it by selecting it and dragging it to a new location. You can resize the chart by dragging the resizing handles at the sides and corners of the active chart.