How to Insert Charts into an Excel Spreadsheet in Excel 2013

Excel 2013 allows you to create charts from the data stored in a worksheet more easily than in previous versions. Charts are useful for times when you wish to create visual representations of the worksheet data for meetings, presentations, or reports. In this post, we will discuss how to insert charts into an Excel Spreadsheet in Excel 2013. 

1. Select the cell range that contains the data to show in the chart, including the row and column labels.

2. Click the “Insert” tab in the Ribbon.

3. In the “Charts” button group, you can see various type of charts that you can insert. You can insert a chart by clicking the “Recommended Charts” button to open the “Insert Chart” dialog box and display the “Recommended Charts” tab.

4. On this tab you will see the types of charts that Excel thinks would best illustrate your selected data. Click on the choices shown at the left side of the tab to see a preview of the chart appear to the right.

5. If you wish to insert one of the choices shown, click on it to select it from the listing at the left side of the tab and then click the “OK” button at the bottom of the “Insert Chart” dialog box.

6. Another way to insert a chart based on the selected data is to click on the button that represents the general chart type that you want to use within the “Charts” button group, and then click on the specific sub type to insert within the button’s drop-down menu.

7. To view all of your charting choices and then insert a selected chart type, you can click the “See All Charts” button in the lower right corner of the “Charts” group to open the “Insert Chart” dialog box.

8. To display all available chart choices, click the “All Charts” tab.

9. On this tab you can select a major chart type from the listing shown at the left side of the dialog box. You can then select the specific sub type to insert by clicking on the desired sub type in the list at the right side of the dialog box.

10. To insert a chart of the selected sub type, click the “OK” button at the bottom of the dialog box.

11. Notice that when you have a chart object selected, you will see a new contextual tab appear in the Ribbon. This is the “Chart Tools” contextual tab, and it consists of two tabs: “Design” and “Format.” You will use the buttons within the various button groups on these two tabs that appear within the “Chart Tools” contextual tab to make changes to the selected chart objects.

12. When a chart object is selected in Excel 2013, you will also now see a three-button grouping of chart options appear at the right side of the selected chart object. The buttons are, from top to bottom, “Chart Elements,” “Chart Styles,” and “Chart Filters.” You can also use these buttons to make changes to your selected chart object.