Format Error Bars in Charts in Excel- Instructions

Format Error Bars in Charts in Excel: Overview

            You can format error bars in charts in Excel if you add them to a chart. To format error bars in charts in Excel, first choose the set of error bars to format. To do this, click the “Format” tab within the “Chart Tools” contextual tab. Then use the “Chart Elements” drop-down in the “Current Selection” button group to select the error bars. Then click the “Format Selection” button that appears below the drop-down menu in the same area.

            Alternatively, right-click the desired set of error bars to format within the actual chart. Then select the “Format Error Bars…” command from the pop-up menu that appears.

            Using either method then displays the “Format Error Bars” task pane at the right side of the screen. Here you set the display of the selected set of error bars. In the “Error Bar Options” category, you can set the direction, end style, and error amounts of the error bars.

Format Error Bars in Charts in Excel – Instructions: A picture of the “Format Error Bars” task pane in Excel.

            You can also choose other formatting categories to show in the task pane by simply clicking the desired category icon in the “Error Bar Options” section. The formatting options for the desired category then appear in collapsible and expandable lists at the bottom of the task pane. You can click the titles of each category list to expand and collapse its category options. You can then set any options you would like within the task pane to immediately apply those changes to the chart. When finished, click the “X” button in the upper-right corner of the task pane to close it.

Format Error Bars in Charts in Excel: Instructions

1. To format error bars in Excel charts, click the “Format” tab within the “Chart Tools” contextual tab.
2. Then use the “Chart Elements” drop-down in the “Current Selection” button group to select the error bars.
3. Then click the “Format Selection” button that appears below the drop-down menu in the same area.
4. Alternatively, right-click the desired set of error bars to format within the actual chart.
5. Then select the “Format Error Bars…” command from the pop-up menu that appears.
6. After performing either task, the “Format Error Bars” task pane then appears at the right side of the screen.
7. Use the “Error Bar Options” category options section of the task pane to set the direction, end style, and error amounts of the error bars.
8. To choose other formatting categories to show in the task pane, click the desired category icon in the “Error Bar Options” section.
9. The formatting options for the desired category then appear in collapsible and expandable lists at the bottom of the task pane.
10. To expand and collapse the category options, click the titles of each category list shown.
11. You can then set any options you would like within the task pane to immediately apply those changes to the chart.
12. When finished, click the “X” button in the upper-right corner of the task pane to close it.

Format Error Bars in Charts in Excel: Video Lesson

            The following video lesson, titled “Formatting Error Bars,” shows you how to format error bars within charts in Excel. This video is from our complete Excel tutorial, titled “Mastering Excel Made Easy v.2019 and 365.”