Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 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: Reading Values from Graphs.

Reading Values from Graphs

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 15, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365


When creating charts from Excel data, you can smooth out the lines between data points by using any number of methods. At some point, you may want to actually figure out how Excel does its calculations to determine where to actually plot points along the line. Rather than visually trying to figure out where a point falls,

If you are using Excel 2013 or a later version, follow these steps:

  1. Right-click on the data series in question. Excel displays a Context menu.
  2. Choose the Add Trendline option from the Context menu. Excel displays the Format Trendline pane at the right side of the screen. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Format Trendline task pane.

  4. Make sure the regression type you want to use is selected.
  5. Make sure the Display Equation on Chart check box is selected.
  6. Close the task pane.

If you are using Excel 2007 or Excel 2010, the steps are different only in that Excel uses a dialog box instead of a task pane:

  1. Right-click on the data series in question. Excel displays a Context menu.
  2. Choose the Add Trendline option from the Context menu. Excel displays the Format Trendline dialog box. (See Figure 2.)
  3. Figure 2. The Format Trendline dialog box.

  4. Make sure the regression type you want to use is selected.
  5. Make sure the Display Equation on Chart check box is selected.
  6. Click on OK.

The result is that Excel shows a formula, on the chart, that represents how it calculated each point along the line. You can then use this formula to determine points, as well. No more guessing! Once you know the formula, you can turn off the formula display if you want it off.

If you would like to know the different formulas that Excel uses for different types of trend lines, you can use the online Help system to search for "equations for calculating trendlines."

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (10698) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Reading Values from Graphs.

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

Using Optional Hyphens

Adding hyphens to your document can affect the way in which Word wraps text from one line to the next. Optional hyphens, ...

Discover More

Loading Unwanted Files at Startup

Imagine how painful it would be if every time you started Excel it tried to load all the files in your root directory? ...

Discover More

Using Search Text in the Replacement

When you use the Find and Replace tool in Word, you may want to include what you searched for in the replacement text. ...

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)

Formatting Axis Patterns

Create a chart in Excel and you can then modify it almost any way you desire. One modification is to adjust the color or ...

Discover More

Changing the Axis Scale

When creating a chart, you may want to adjust the default scaling that Excel applies to an axis. This is relatively easy ...

Discover More

How to Choose the Type of Chart to Use

Excel allows you to create all sorts of charts to visually display your data. With so many options available, how do you ...

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 8 - 4?

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.