How to add horizontal line to chart?

In this Excel charting tutorial, you will learn how to add a horizontal line to a graph. Inserting a horizontal line into a chart is very possible.

Chart preparation

But, first we need a chart that looks like this:

horizontal line data set table

Add a new label to the data, then in the cell below, type =AVERAGE(range of your data values).

average formula

Note: This step is just a possible way to inform Excel what information to use for the line. You should repeat this step on all the remaining cells to match the rows of the remaining columns.

Horizontal line adding

Right-click on any of the series, and choose select data.

select data

Click add

add series

Choose the cell for series’ name, and cells for the values.

series name

Right click on any of the average series (1), and choose change chart (2).

change series chart type

On the chart type, change the chart to line.

change to line chart

The final result would look something like this:

horizontal line chart example

Horizontal line formatting

The next step is to add a description of the horizontal line. Go to the Ribbon and add data labels.

Click on your horizontal line and select Ribbon > Design > Add Chart Element > Data Labels> Center.

Data labels will appear. Delete all with the Delete key except one. Enter a description of the horizontal line and format the font.

horizontal line data label

This is how to add a horizontal line to a chart.

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