Excel: How to change the design of charts

Diagrams are useful because they visualize data sets and thus make them easier to understand. When it comes to visuals, Excel gives you quite a few customization options. We show you the options.

The eye eats with you: The appearance of Excel charts can be greatly changed.

Depending on the data set, the default display of a chart is not always the best option. Fortunately, you can take care of the necessary adjustment yourself.

Excel: How to change the chart design

You have several options to change the design of charts. First click on the chart and then on the right on the small icon with the brush:

• The first category there is "Style sheet". You have pre-made complete designs to choose from, which you can select by clicking on them.
• For a more individual design, you can switch to the second category "Color". This gives you the opportunity to choose between the predefined color combinations.

In addition, there are the options regarding the layout. To do this, click on the diagram and then see at the top of the ribbon on the far left the area "Diagram layouts":

• These affect not only the coloring, but the general design of the diagram.
• Under "Quick layouts" you will find a number of prefabricated layouts, which differ in design, sometimes significantly. This concerns, for example, the positioning of the data or the display of the axes.
• Under "Add chart element" you can specifically adjust the details.

In sum, you thus have many ways to individualize the chart design, which can lead to a nicer look and also to a higher clarity.