How to Plot a Line Graph in Excel

In this lesson, you can learn how to plot line chart in Excel.

You can use a line chart to show changes in trends over the time. In this case, we focus on sales.

Prepare Data

Prepare the necessary data in the table.

Excel Line Chart table sale results

Ensure your sales data is neatly arranged in a table format, ready for charting.

Example Line Chart

Select Data

First, select the sales data in 4th, 5th and 6th row.

Excel Line Chart sale results table selected data

Insert Line Chart

Go to the ribbon. Here you find the Insert tab. Click the button Line to plot Line Graph.

Excel Line Chart Insert Chart Ribbon

From the drop-down menu select the first of the charts (2-D Line Chart).

Excel Line Chart 2D line chart insert

Improve the Chart

Customize the chart by adding a title.

Excel Line Chart example line chart

You can do this by going to the “Layout” tab and clicking on “Chart Title” to enter a title for your chart.

Excel Line Chart

Modify Axis Labels

Right-click on the data series in the chart and select “Select Data”.

Excel Line Chart Select Data

In the dialog box that appears, edit the horizontal axis labels. Then choose the range axis labels. Select the year from the table data. The data series in the chart now looks as it should.

Excel Line Chart Select Data Source Edit Data Source

Finalize and Customize

You can further customize the chart by changing colors, adding data labels, adjusting gridlines, and more to make it visually appealing and informative.

Example Line Chart

Download free spreadsheet here

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