Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 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: Deleting a Chart.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 10, 2026)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365
Excel allows you to create all sorts of charts based on the data in a worksheet table. These charts can either be on their own sheets or they can be embedded within a regular worksheet. At some point you may have a need to delete a chart.
To delete an embedded chart, all you need to do is select it (so that handles appear around the perimeter of the chart object) and then press the Delete key.
If you need to delete a chart sheet, you do so in the same manner as when you delete a regular worksheet:
An alternative way to delete a chart sheet is to right-click on the tab for the sheet (this displays a Context menu) and then choose Delete.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9204) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Deleting a Chart.
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2026-01-10 05:55:14
jamies
From experience -
Both with Chart Sheets and (multiple) charts in a worksheet
( and for multiple charts in a worksheet - you can just select the range the chart is "attached to" whole rows, or columns too, and delete those !
BUT in both situations:
Deleting the chart is not completed immediately -
Excel treats removing the links from the data that was in the chart as a low priority task
so deleting the source data may leave the links from the yet to be got rid of chart code pointing at cells that are now deleted from the source worksheet.
I have found it best to
do the chart tidy-up
Save the workbook before deleting the chart
allow 5, or more minutes for Excel to complete the tidy-up after removing the chart
then deleting the source data
then doing a SaveAs with a different name and checking for error messages posted during the SaveAs, t
if you get error messages, wait a few more minutes then Save (SaveAs) again
Then closing the saved without errors version,
and finally checking you can open the file without error messages.
Additionally - if altering the format of charts - zoom out and then back in to have the chart presentation properly updated in the display !
and the above annoyances experienced on an i7, 8GB RAM System using 2016 ( subscription office-365 and MS-365 ).
Strangely enough - using Excel 2010 the annoyances don't happen - even on 2 core 2GB RAM Win-10 systems - both x64 Pro, and Home !
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 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:
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