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: Changing Chart Types.

Changing Chart Types

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 18, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

1

Excel makes changing chart types of an existing chart a breeze. You can change chart types by following these steps:

  1. Select the chart you want to change. You do this by clicking on the chart, if you are selecting an embedded chart. (A selection border appears around the perimeter of the chart.) If you are selecting a chart sheet, simply make sure the sheet is displayed.
  2. Make sure the Design tab of the ribbon is displayed.
  3. In the Type group click the Change Chart Type tool. Excel displays the Change Chart Type dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

    4. Figure 1. The Change Chart Type dialog box.

  4. Select any of the major chart types shown in the left of the dialog box. When you select a type, the information at the right of the dialog box changes.
  5. Click on one of the charts shown at the right of the dialog box.
  6. Click on the OK button. Your chart is reformatted using the chart you selected.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9747) 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: Changing Chart Types.

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

Calculating TV Time

In some industries it is necessary to work with time resolutions of less than a second. If you need to keep track of such ...

Discover More

Partially Blocking Social Security Numbers

Need to protect a series of Social Security Numbers in a worksheet? The techniques provided in this tip might be a good ...

Discover More

ScreenTips without Hyperlinks

ScreenTips can be a helpful feature in some documents, but adding them also means you need to add a hyperlink. Here's a ...

Discover More

Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Controlling the Plotting of Empty Cells

When creating a chart from information that contains empty cells, you can direct Excel how it should proceed. This tip ...

Discover More

Using Chart Titles

Titles can be a great addition to any chart. They help provide explanatory information about the information in the ...

Discover More

Moving Objects with a Chart

Excel allows you to add all sorts of objects to your worksheets. Among the objects you can add are text boxes, shapes, ...

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}] (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 8 + 2?

2025-03-18 06:31:19

jamies

And -
from experience -

Sometimes the chart (window display) needs to have the zoom level changed to get Excel to refresh the displayed chart representation, mode, layout, colour options etc.,
such as up (maybe)10%, wait for the redisplay, then you can go back to the original setting !

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 SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.