Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 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: Smoothing Out Data Series.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 16, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365
When you create line charts in Excel, the lines drawn between data points tend to be very straight. (This makes sense; the lines are meant to connect the points.) You can give your graphs a more professional look by simply smoothing out the curves Excel uses at each data point. Follow these steps if you are using Excel 2007 or Excel 2010:
Figure 1. The Line Style options of the Format Data Series dialog box.
The steps are slightly different in Excel 2013 and later versions:
Figure 2. The Line options of the Format Data Series task pane.
One final note: Just because Excel provides a way for you to smooth the lines connecting data points, that doesn't always mean that you should. Make sure you give some thought to what conclusions people may draw from your data. If the data in the chart is more precise with unsmoothed lines, then you should probably not smooth them. You want to avoid misrepresenting your data or causing readers to draw incorrect conclusions.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9510) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Smoothing Out Data Series.
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