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: Selecting Fonts for a Chart.

Selecting Fonts for a Chart

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 6, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365


When creating a chart in Excel, you can add various elements to the charts, such as titles or data labels. Excel allows you to change the font used to display these elements, if you desire. You can change fonts for these elements individually. To do this, use these steps:

  1. Make sure your chart is visible on the screen and you have selected it. (You do this by clicking on the chart.)
  2. Select the text element whose font you wish to change. For instance, if you want to change the chart's title, click on the title. Excel displays small black squares around the element; this lets you know it is selected.
  3. Display the Home tab of the ribbon.
  4. In the Font group, use the available tools to specify the font characteristics for the element you selected in step 2.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10597) 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: Selecting Fonts for a Chart.

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

When Replace Doesn't Work

Find and Replace is a great tool, but what are you to do if your find or replace doesn't work as you expect? This tip ...

Discover More

Adding Borders to Cell Contents

Word allows you to quickly add borders to cells in a table, but you may not know that you can also add borders to the ...

Discover More

Pulling Apart Cells

Separating text values in one cell into a group of other cells is a common need when dealing with text. Excel provides a ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Creating a Bar Chart for Temperatures

Excel can create a large variety of charts, but sometimes it can take some real creativity to get exactly the chart you ...

Discover More

Exporting Black and White Charts

Excel's charts are normally created in color, but you can print them in black and white. You may be looking for a way to ...

Discover More

Plotting Times of Day

Got a chart created from your worksheet? You can plot times of day in the chart if you apply the simple techniques in ...

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.

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 2 + 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.