How to Create Charts in Excel for Mac

Edited 4 months ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team

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Excel for Mac is a powerful software tool that allows users to organize, format, and calculate data with formulas. However, one of its most useful features is the ability to visualize data using charts. Charts can help users better understand complex data by presenting it in a visual format that is easy to understand. In this guide, we will walk you through the steps to create various charts in Excel for Mac. Whether you are new to Excel or familiar with its functionality, this comprehensive guide will teach you how to effectively use its chart-creation features.

Step 1: Preparing your data

Before you can create a chart, you need to have your data ready. Organized data is a must for effective chart creation. Generally, your data should be organized into columns or rows with labels to represent different categories or data sets.

For example, let's say you're working with sales data. You might have one column for product names and another column for sales figures. Your data might look something like this:

| Products | Sales |
|Product A |100|
|Product B |200|
|Product C |150|

Make sure your data range has no blank rows or columns, and that all the data you want to include in the chart is highlighted.

Step 2: Choosing your chart type

Excel for Mac offers many chart types, including line charts, bar charts, pie charts, column charts, scatter plots, and more. The type of chart you choose should depend on the nature of your data and what you want to convey.

To choose a chart type, follow these steps:

1. Highlight the data you want to include in your chart.
2. Go to the Chart tab in the ribbon.
3. Browse the available chart types. You can hover over each option to see a preview in your spreadsheet.
4. Click the chart type that best suits your data to insert it into your worksheet.

Step 3: Creating a basic chart

Let's start creating a basic column chart with our example data. To do this:

1. Select the range of data including the headers, which are Products and Sales.
2. Go to the Charts tab.
3. Click the Column Chart icon and choose a style, for example, Clustered Column Chart.

Excel will immediately create a basic column chart, with each product displayed as a separate column with a height corresponding to the sales figures. This visual representation helps to quickly compare the sales of different products.

Step 4: Customizing your chart

Excel provides many options for customizing charts, which help make your data more legible and visually appealing. Here are some basic customization techniques:

4.1 Adding and editing titles

A well-labeled chart helps viewers understand it quickly. You can add a chart title and axis titles.

• Add a chart title:
  1. Select the chart.
  2. Click the Chart Design tab under Chart Tools.
  3. Click Add Chart Element > Chart Title.
  4. Choose a style for title placement (for example, Above chart).
  5. Click the placeholder text in the Chart Title box and type the title you want.
• Adding axis titles:
  1. Repeat the above steps, but after the chart title, select Axis titles.
  2. Write the appropriate name for each axis.

4.2 Changing the chart style

The chart style can also be modified to match the overall look of your presentation or document. Excel provides several predefined styles that you can quickly apply:

• Select your chart.
• Under Chart Design, click Quick Layout or Change Colors to adjust the style or color scheme.

4.3 Changing the chart type

If you think the chart type you've chosen isn't the best fit for your data, you can easily change it:

• Select the chart.
• Go to the Chart Design tab.
• Click Change chart type and choose a new chart type.

Step 5: Advanced customization options

Once you're familiar with the basic customization, you can look for more advanced options to further enhance your charts.

5.1 Adding data labels

Adding data labels directly to your chart can make specific values clearer:

1. Select the chart.
2. Click the Chart Design tab.
3. Select Add Chart Element > Data Labels.
4. Choose how and where you want the label to appear (for example, at the end, inside, in the middle).

5.2 Use of secondary axis

If you're comparing data series of different scales, a secondary axis can be helpful:

1. Right-click the data series that you want to display on the secondary axis.
2. Select Format Data Series.
3. Click the checkbox for the secondary axis.

Now a second Y-axis will appear on the right side of the chart.

5.3 Adding a trendline

Trendlines can help emphasize trends in data over time:

1. Select the chart.
2. Go to the Chart Design tab.
3. Click Add Chart Element > Trendline and choose the type you want.

Step 6: Saving and sharing your chart

Once your chart is created and customized, you'll probably want to save or share it. Here's how to do that:

6.1 Saving your chart

You can save your entire worksheet with the chart or export the chart as an image.

• To save your worksheet, simply click File > Save As and choose the format you want (for example, Excel Workbook).
• To save only the chart as an image:
  1. Select the chart.
  2. Right-click and choose Save as Picture.
  3. Choose a file format (e.g., PNG) and location, then click Save.

6.2 Sharing your chart

To share a chart from Excel for Mac, you can use the Share menu to email the workbook or use cloud services:

• Click the Share button in the top-right corner.
• Choose an option: Send a copy, Invite people, or Save to cloud services like OneDrive.

Make sure to maintain data privacy when sharing sensitive information.

Conclusion

Creating charts in Excel for Mac is an effective way to visualize data, reveal trends, and make data-driven decisions. By following the steps outlined in this guide, from preparing your data to customizing your charts, you can turn raw data into meaningful insights. Excel's versatile features allow users to create anything from simple charts to extensive, sophisticated graphs. Practice creating charts regularly to explore more options and become proficient at representing data visually.

Remember that the selected chart type should suit the purpose of your analysis. With practice, you will be able to easily create visually impressive and informative charts in Excel for Mac.

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