Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007 and 2010. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Reordering the Display of a Data Series.

Reordering the Display of a Data Series

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 30, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007 and 2010


4

When you create a chart in Excel, you may have a need to change the order in which the data series are displayed in the chart. One way to do this, of course, is to change the order of the data in the underlying worksheet range. For instance, you can sort the data in the worksheet range, and the change in order should be reflected in the chart based on that data.

Another way is to manually customize the chart to rearrange the data series. Follow these steps:

  1. Right-click on one of the data series that you want to move. Excel displays a Context menu.
  2. Select the Select Data option from the Context menu. Excel displays the Select Data Source dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Select Data Source dialog box.

  4. In the list of data series at the left of the dialog box, click once on the one you want to move.
  5. Use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow buttons to reposition the selected data series.
  6. When finished, click OK.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (6237) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007 and 2010. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Reordering the Display of a Data Series.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Printing Multiple Selections

Need to print several portions of a worksheet all on a single piece of paper? Here's an easy way you can get what you ...

Discover More

Removing Dashes from ISBN Numbers

ISBN numbers are used to denote a unique identifier for a published book. If you remove the dashes included in an ISBN, ...

Discover More

Selecting to the Bottom of a Column in a Macro

Need to select a range of cells in a column? This tip can help, as it shows how to select from a specific cell all the ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Hyperlinks to Charts

You can create hyperlinks to all sorts of worksheets in a workbook, but you cannot create a hyperlink to a chart sheet. ...

Discover More

Locking Callouts to a Graph Location

If you add callouts using the drawing tools in Excel, you may have noticed that they don't always stay where you expect ...

Discover More

Changing the Axis and Gridline Default Color

When you want to change the defaults used for charts, a chart template is the way to go. This tip shows how easy it is to ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is seven more than 2?

2018-02-06 07:34:50

me

And how do I do this in vba scrip???


2018-01-16 03:23:02

gerdami

Unfortunately, after having reordered the data series, a click on the chart no longer shows the data range.


2015-06-08 11:19:09

Sophie

Allen, I tried this in Excel 2013, but all the options under Legend Entry (Series) are greyed out.


2014-05-21 12:53:32

Surendera M. Bhanot

People do not know much about the harts and Graph maipulations. The Tips recently appearing are making us wiser. Thanks Allen Wyatt for bringing them to us.


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.