How to Change Markers on Excel Graph

In this Excel tutorial, you will learn one easy trick. You will learn how to change the color of the markers on your chart. You may need this to customize your chart to highlight specific data points.

Preparing to change data points

In Microsoft Excel, markers are symbols used to identify individual data points on a graph. To change the markers on a graph in Excel, follow these steps:

Consider the data set with a chart window.

example chart

Right-click on the marker to bring up a dropdown menu. Then select the Format Data Series option.

format markers

A pane will appear, allowing you to customize the appearance of the markers.

format data series

Changing markers color

From the left side, select Marker Fill and then Solid Fill from the color palette. Select the new color of the marker.

solid fill markers

You can choose from a variety of marker shapes, such as squares, diamonds, or circles.

If desired, you can format the markers by right-clicking on the markers and choosing “Format Data Point” from the context menu. In the “Format Data Point” dialog box, you can adjust the size, color, and border of the markers.

Now here you go with the new color of your marker.

markers changed color

Using Formulas

For more advanced customization, you can use formulas to dynamically control marker colors based on data values. This involves creating a helper column with formulas that return different values based on criteria.

Then, you can use conditional formatting with color scales or icon sets based on the helper column.

See also  How to Create a Thermometer Chart in Excel

For example, the formula =IF(A2>10, 3, IF(A2>5, 2, 1)) in a helper column would assign 3, 2, or 1 based on the value in A2, which you could then use to apply different marker colors through conditional formatting.

To apply the conditional formatting, select the data series in your chart, go to Format Data Series > Fill & Line > Marker > Marker Options > Fill > Gradient fill. Under Gradient stops, you can then set different colors based on the numerical values in your helper column, effectively creating dynamic marker coloring.