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: 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 2021


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 2021. 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

No-border Text Boxes by Default

Text boxes can be a great design element when laying out your documents. If you want those text boxes to have no borders ...

Discover More

Creating a Plus/Minus Button

Want a quick way to convert positive values to negative and vice versa? You can create your own plus/minus button by ...

Discover More

Fixing Mismatched Bullets and Numbers

When you format bulleted lists or numbered lists, you may be surprised if some of the bullets or numbers don't match the ...

Discover More

Program Successfully in Excel! This guide will provide you with all the information you need to automate any task in Excel and save time and effort. Learn how to extend Excel's functionality with VBA to create solutions not possible with the standard features. Includes latest information for Excel 2024 and Microsoft 365. Check out Mastering Excel VBA Programming today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Printing a Chart Across Multiple Pages

Wouldn't it be great to have your huge charts print out on multiple pieces of paper that you could then piece together? ...

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

Adjusting Your View of 3-D Graphs

Do you use Excel's charting capabilities to display three-dimensional views of your data? The program provides a way that ...

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 nine more than 8?

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.