Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Office 365. 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: Changing Chart Size.

Changing Chart Size

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated April 27, 2019)

There are two types of charts that you can create in Excel—embedded charts and chart sheets. A chart sheet occupies an entire page. An embedded chart appears on the same page as your worksheet data.

If you are working with an embedded chart, you can change the size of the chart to any size you want. You cannot directly change the size of a chart sheet; it is set to be a single page. You can modify the printed size of a chart sheet, however. (This is covered in a different ExcelTip.)

https://excelribbon.tips.net/T011915

You change the size of an embedded chart as you would any other graphical object in Excel:

  1. Click once on the chart. Handles appear around the chart border. As you move the mouse pointer over these handles, they change to sizing arrows.
  2. Click and hold the left mouse button and drag a sizing handle until the graphic is the size you want. The arrow heads on the mouse pointer indicate the direction which you can move the border.
  3. Release the mouse button. The chart is resized and reformatted.

It is worth noting that if you hold down the Alt key as you resize the chart, the resizing is done according to the size of the cells that underlie the chart. (Try it to see what I mean.) This can be useful for using the cells as an alignment or sizing aid.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8525) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Office 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Changing Chart Size.

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

Returning a Worksheet Name

Need to know the name of the current worksheet? You can use the CELL function as the basis for finding this information ...

Discover More

Counting Alphabetic Characters in a String

Need to find out how many times a certain letter appears in a text string? It's easy to do if you rely on the SUBSTITUTE ...

Discover More

Converting PDF to Excel

Reports and other formal documents are often distributed in PDF format so that they can be read and printed on a variety ...

Discover More

Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2013 For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Changing Chart Type

Charts can either be embedded in a worksheet or take up an entire sheet by themselves. Changing from one type of chart to ...

Discover More

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

Creating Sparklines

Want a cool, small chart to show what your data is doing? You need a sparkline, discussed in this tip.

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.

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

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}] 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 nine more than 2?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

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.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR AUTHORS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2021 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.