Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. 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: Positioning Graphics Evenly.

Positioning Graphics Evenly

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 10, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

2

Sometimes you may need to position graphics evenly within a worksheet. For instance, you may have four small graphics that will appear next to each other. You may want to make sure that the graphics are an equal distance from each other. To do this easily within Excel, follow these steps:

  1. Using the mouse, roughly position the graphics where you want them to appear. You should make sure that the left-most graphic is where you want it, as is the right-most graphic.
  2. Select all four graphics. Excel should display the Graphics Format tab (Format tab in earlier versions of Excel) of the ribbon automatically.
  3. Click the Align tool in the Arrange group. Excel displays a list of different ways you can arrange the graphics.
  4. Choose Distributing Horizontally. Excel positions the two inside graphics so that all four graphics are an equal distance from each other.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9048) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Positioning Graphics Evenly.

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. ...

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What is five more than 3?

2025-06-10 12:49:10

Lance S.

I would offer one very minor note: In Office 365 the "Graphics Format" tab referred to in step #2 above is now called the "Picture Format" tab.

2021-05-18 12:45:13

Mike D.

This works very well, I use it all the time. One thing I have noticed, compared to Visio, when aligning (top, bottom, left, right) Excel chooses the extreme most object where Visio aligns to the first selected no matter if it is at the extreme position.
This is not a failing but an attribute to keep in mind when trying to align objects for your beautiful presentations.

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