Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007 and 2010. 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: Labeling X-Y Scatter Plots.

Labeling X-Y Scatter Plots

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 30, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007 and 2010


13

Martin has a worksheet containing 50 rows of data, each row describing a single object. Column A contains the name of the object, column B contains its X coordinate, and column C contains its Y coordinate. When he creates an X-Y scatter chart (column B against column C) the result, as desired, is a graph showing an array of points showing the location of the objects. However, Martin can't seem to label the data points with their individual names (from column A). When he tries to label the data points the only available options are to label each point with its X value, Y value, or Series Name. Martin wonders if there is a way he can easily use Column A to label the plotted data points.

This can be done manually, but it is tedious at best. For 50 rows it would quickly be brutal, so it is best to look at a macro-oriented approach. One idea is to use a macro similar to the following, which steps through the data points in the X-Y chart and reads the label values from column A.

Sub DataLabelsFromRange()
    Dim Cht As Chart
    Dim i, ptcnt As Integer

    Set Cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects(1).Chart
    On Error Resume Next
    Cht.SeriesCollection(1).ApplyDataLabels _
      Type:=xlDataLabelsShowValue, _
      AutoText:=True, _
      LegendKey:=False

    ptcnt = Cht.SeriesCollection(1).Points.Count
    For i = 1 To ptcnt
        Cht.SeriesCollection(1).Points(i).DataLabel.Text = _
          ActiveSheet.Cells(i + 1, 1).Value
    Next i
End Sub

The macro assumes that the first row of the worksheet contains header information and that the actual data begins in row 2. If the data really begins in row 1, then change "i + 1" to simply "i". (This macro approach is actually a variation of a macro found on pages 570-571 of John Walkenbach's book Excel 2003 Power Programming with VBA. Despite the book's title, the macro still works just fine with later versions of Excel.)

One rather unique non-macro approach is to use Excel's custom formats. All you need to do is set up a bunch of custom formats that contain only the text you want to be displayed. For example, if you have the values Age, 15, and 23 in cells A3 to C3, you can format either cell B3 or C3 to show the word "Age" even though the value will remain 15 or 23, respectively. Just enter "Age" (including the quotation marks) for the Custom format for the cell. Then format the chart to display the label for X or Y value.

When you do this, the X-axis values of the chart will probably all changed to whatever the format name is (i.e., Age). However, after formatting the X-axis to Number (with no digits after the decimal in this case) rather than General, the chart should display correctly.

This approach can obviously still take a bit of time to implement as you set up and apply a bunch of custom formats for each value in your data series. If you don't want to mess with writing and testing your own macros or creating a bunch of custom formats, you can always turn to add-ins written by others. Microsoft MVP Rob Bovey has created an excellent (free) add-in for Excel which includes an X-Y labeling feature among several others. It can be downloaded at this address:

http://www.appspro.com/Utilities/ChartLabeler.htm

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (11652) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007 and 2010. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Labeling X-Y Scatter Plots.

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

Converting Imported Information to Numeric Values

If the information you import into Excel is treated as text by the program, you may want to convert it to numeric values. ...

Discover More

Getting Rid of the "Enable Macros" Notice

Do you get tired of the dialog box that says "do you want to enable macros" that is displayed when you open a workbook. ...

Discover More

Editing the Windows Registry

The Registry is the central depository of configuration information used by Windows and by programs running on your ...

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)

Unwanted Weekend Dates in Chart

If you chart data that includes dates along one of the axes, you might be surprised to find out that the chart includes ...

Discover More

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

Preparing a Chart Sheet for Printing

One type of chart that Excel allows you to create is one that occupies an entire worksheet. When it comes time to print ...

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 five more than 0?

2020-05-27 07:44:45

Amos

Thanks Allen, Its been great help.
Here is modified vision for 2 series scatter plots - for whom in need :

Sub DataLabelsFromRange()
Dim Cht As Chart
Dim i, ptcnt As Integer

Set Cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects(1).Chart
On Error Resume Next
Cht.SeriesCollection(1).ApplyDataLabels _
Type:=xlDataLabelsShowValue, _
AutoText:=True, _
LegendKey:=False

ptcnt = Cht.SeriesCollection(1).Points.Count
For i = 1 To ptcnt
Cht.SeriesCollection(1).Points(i).DataLabel.Text = _
ActiveSheet.Cells(i + 1, 1).Value
Next i

Set Cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects(2).Chart
On Error Resume Next
Cht.SeriesCollection(2).ApplyDataLabels _
Type:=xlDataLabelsShowValue, _
AutoText:=True, _
LegendKey:=False

ptcnt = Cht.SeriesCollection(2).Points.Count
For i = 1 To ptcnt
Cht.SeriesCollection(2).Points(i).DataLabel.Text = _
ActiveSheet.Cells(i + 1, 1).Value
Next i

End Sub


2018-06-06 05:47:48

Richard

Without an example in front of me, I assume that the article's macro plots data labels for all the points on the scatter chart. Could this be adapted to show selected data labels?


2016-08-15 17:45:58

Lori

Thank you! This worked like a charm.


2016-03-30 03:51:31

im

Thanks Benoit


2015-11-14 08:47:15

Benoit

There is a way to do this without a macro from excel 2013, check this out http://exde601e.blogspot.ch/2014/11/adding-labels-to-excel-scatter-charts.html


2015-10-28 14:22:08

CB

I'm trying to use this macro to apply labels to data points from multiple series within a single scatter plot (actually a bubble plot, but same idea) and have found that it only ties labels to data points from the first series. Is there any way to adapt the macro so it will apply labels to data points from all series?


2015-04-21 22:17:52

Leslie Russek

Awesome fix. Just what I needed! Tx.


2015-03-24 16:20:49

jon

@Paul Seaman - you are a genius! Your tip was by far the easiest solution. Thanks a million!


2015-02-24 13:29:39

Steve M

This works perfectly for Excel 2007, thank you!


2015-02-23 05:36:13

shetie

I am also doing the same thing but stacked at this point. Is there any one who share me microsoft excel 2013


2015-01-02 16:51:00

M.

Fantastic program! Thank you!


2014-12-31 08:02:44

Paul Seaman

I think Excel 2013 may have solved this problem.

Create the scatter chart from the data columns (cols B and C in this example).

Right click a data point on the chart and choose Format Data Labels

In the Format Data Labels panel which appears, select Label Options at the top and then the last (column chart) icon (Label Options) just below.

In the Label Contains list, tick Value from Cells and click the Select Range button to select the cells containing the labels you wish to use.


2014-09-12 10:33:16

Archana Acharya

Thank you so much for this post. It was exactly what I was looking for.Thank you for saving me a ton of grief sir!


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.