How to Change Legend Title in Excel (2 Easy Methods)

What Is the Legend Title in Excel?

The legend title of a chart in Excel represents which data is displayed on the Y-axis (also known as Series). It usually appears on the bottom or right side of the chart. By default, legend titles are the same color as the Series values they represent. The main purpose of the legend title is to show the name and color of each data series, which prevents any confusion when readers analyze a chart or graph.

Let’s have a look at the following Column Chart based on this simple dataset. We have used the Total Cost and Profit values as Y-axis (i.e. Series) values. But it is unclear from the chart.

How to Change Legend Title in Excel

We enabled the Legend option from Chart Elements. As the legend titles are of the same color as the corresponding Series values, we can easily understand which column represents which data.

Read More: What Is a Chart Legend in Excel?

Method 1 – Editing the Main Data Table to Change the Legend Title in Excel

To check that the legend comes from the headers of the dataset, click on the chart.

You can see that cells C4 and D4 have been used as legend titles in the chart. These are the top cells of the column of the data table.

In the chart, we want to change the legend title of Total Cost to Monthly Cost. Total Cost is present in cell C4.

Type a new legend title in cell C4.

Press Enter.

You can see the legend title Monthly Cost in place of Total Cost.

Method 2 – Using the Select Data Option to Change the Legend Title in Excel

You can see a column chart that has been created from the data table. The chart contains legend titles. We want to change the legend title Total Cost to Monthly Cost.