Buzz
Mytour will guide you through the process of presenting your data more attractively and engagingly in Microsoft Excel by using bar charts.
Steps
Input Data
Launch Microsoft Excel. The Excel icon resembles the white letter 'E' on a green background.
- If you’re working with existing data, double-click on the Excel file to open it and proceed to the next step.
Click on the Blank workbook button (blank sheet) (for Windows users) or click on the Excel Workbook button (for Mac users). This button is located at the top-left corner of the window.
Add labels for the X-axis and Y-axis of your chart. To do this, click on cell A1 (X-axis) and type in your label, then do the same for cell B1 (Y-axis).
- For example, if you are creating a chart to track temperature over the week, you might label cell A1 as "Days" and cell B1 as "Temperature".
Input data for the X-axis and Y-axis of the chart. Enter either numbers or words into column A or B based on the corresponding axis.
- For example, you can type "Monday" into cell A2 and "70" into cell B2 to show that the temperature was 70 degrees on Monday.
Complete the data entry. Once all your data has been entered, you're ready to create your bar chart using this data.
Create chart
To select all data, click on cell A1, hold down the ⇧ Shift key, and then click on the bottom value in column B. This will select all your data.
- If your chart contains multiple texts, numbers, or other items, simply click the top-left cell in your data group and then click the bottom-right cell while holding the ⇧ Shift key.
Click on the Insert tab. It's located at the top of the Excel window, immediately to the right of the Home tab.
Click on the "Bar Chart" icon. This icon is located in the "Charts" group at the bottom right of the Insert tab and resembles a series of vertical bars.
Click on the desired bar chart option. You'll see various preset styles available depending on your operating system and whether you've purchased the full version of Excel. Some common options include:
- 2-D Column – Displays data as vertical bars.
- 3-D Column – Displays data as three-dimensional vertical bars.
- 2-D Bar – Displays data as a simple chart with horizontal bars instead of vertical ones.
- 3-D Bar – Displays data as three-dimensional horizontal bars.
Customize your chart. After choosing the chart format, use the "Design" tab near the top of the Excel window to select a different template, change colors, or even completely switch the chart type.
- The "Design" tab will only appear when a chart is selected. To select the chart, simply click on it.
- You can also click on the chart title to edit it and enter a new one. The title is usually displayed at the top of the chart window.
Advice
- Charts can be copied and pasted into other Microsoft Office programs like Word or PowerPoint.
