Make a Graph in Microsoft Excel 2007 for Windows

Graphs are great ways to help audiences understand concepts. Examples of some concepts could be Business data showing the amount of profit a company brought in per year or Science data showing how temperature varies in each month at a certain location. Using Microsoft Excel to make graphs is an excellent way to make charts look professional at work or in school. However, not everyone knows how to use Excel to make graphs. Below is an outline of steps using a bar graph as an example to show how to make a graph in Excel. The various other graphs that can be created such as line, scatter, bar graphs, etc. follow the same steps. In order to follow the steps below you will need data and Microsoft Excel 2007 for Windows.

Steps

  1. Open up Microsoft Excel 2007 on your computer.
  2. Enter the desired category data for the information you want to compare in the A column. Each category should be in a cell beginning with A2. In the example below, I used Fuel, Clothing, and Entertainment costs.
  3. Next you should type in the x-axis labels into row 1 that you want. Each label should be in a separate cell beginning with B1. In the example below, I typed in the four months that were being tracked.
  4. Enter the values you want for the y-axis data in the correct data cells. The data should correspond to the correct x-axis and category. In my example I entered the amount of money spent for each item for each month rounded to the nearest dollar.
  5. Highlight the data in the spreadsheet by clicking on the upper left hand corner of the data table, then drag the mouse across the entire data range.
  6. Click on the “Insert” Tab in the menu at the top of the screen. This will be the second tab from the left
  7. Click on the type of chart that you want to use to represent your data. For my data, I used a Bar graph because it’s good at showing different x-axis variables that represent different data. Many graphs portray data differently. I will have more information on this in my tips section. The types of charts are listed in the middle of the tab menu such as Column, Line, Pie, Bar, etc. A drop-down menu of Bar Chart designs will be shown after you click on one of them.
  8. Select the type of chart that is best suited for the display you want. When you put your mouse over the chart option, you'll see a description of what the chart display is good for. For example, select “2D Bar” in a clustered column for the type of chart. The chart will appear on the spreadsheet using the data in a 2D form.
  9. Click on your graph and and then click on the layout tab. To add graph titles or axis titles simply click on the titles tab. A drop-down menu will appear where you can choose the one you prefer.
  10. Make changes to the chart as needed in the title, legend, fonts, etc. by clicking on the text and editing it.
  11. After you are done formatting and editing the graph you can copy and paste it into other documents. If copy and pasting doesn't work you can always try taking a screen shot of the image and inserting into the selected document.

Tips

  • The steps described above also work in Microsoft Excel 2008 for Macintosh, although you must first make sure you have set up a new workbook. Also, chart types will be on the charts menu rather than on the insert menu.
  • Choose the correct type of graph to represent the data. Based on the data you've used and what you need to illustrate, try various styles until you find one that looks best.
  • Make sure you check the data that you input into the spreadsheet for errors.

Things You'll Need

  • Microsoft Excel 2007 for Windows
  • Data for the Graph

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