Md. Araf Bin Jayed
In Microsoft Excel, you can perform numerous tasks in a few minutes. Apart from calculating or using various functions for problem-solving, users can use Excel for the visualization of data. One such feature for visualizing data is the column chart in Excel. By providing proper input of data, one can create many types of column charts here. But sometimes, you need to change the width of the data bars in the column chart for better visualization. In this article, I will show you how to change the width of the column chart in Excel.
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6 Easy Steps to Change Width of Column in Excel Chart
In this article, you will see five easy steps to change the width of the column chart in Excel. From inserting data to making a column chart to changing the width of the data bars, you will witness all the steps in detail.
Step 1: Prepare Data Set with Additional Information
First of all, I will require a data set that will help me to create a column chart and demonstrate the further procedure. For that,
- Firstly, take the following data set, where I have the information regarding sales of a random general store for two years.
- By using this data, I will create a column chart and change its width of it in the following steps.
Step 2: Utilize Charts Group
In this step, using the data set from the previous step, I will create a column chart. For that, I will need to utilize the Chart groups of the Insert tab in the ribbon.
- First of all, select the data range C5:E12.
- Then, go to the Charts group in the Insert tab of the ribbon.
- After that, select the Insert Column or Bar Chart command from the group.
- Secondly, you will find a list of column and bar charts after the previous action.
- Then, under the 2-D Column label, select Clustered Column.
Step 3: Create Clustered Column Chart
After the second step, now you will be able to see the newly created clustered column chart, made from the above data set. After creating the chart, I will do some modifications.
- Firstly, after selecting the Clustered Column command from the previous step, you will find a column chart like the following picture in your worksheet.
- Secondly, set the title of the column chart as Sales Per Year.
Read More: How to Create a 2D Clustered Column Chart in Excel
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Step 4: Select Format Data Series Command
In the previous step, you will find the width of the data bars in the chart pre-defined. I will show the process to change the width in this step.
- Firstly, click on any of the data bars in the chart using the mouse to select them.
- Secondly, after selecting the bars, again right-click on the mouse.
- Then, from the context menu, select Format Data Series.
Step 5: Change Gap Width of Data Bars
After selecting the command from the previous step, you will see a new window pane in your Excel sheet. By modifying the commands in this window pane, you will be able to change the gap width of the data bars.
- First of all, you will see the Format Data Series window pane in your worksheet after the previous step.
- Then, go to the Gap Width command under the Series Options label.
- Secondly, to increase the width of the bar, slide the zoom bar to the left, thus decreasing the gap width.
- Consequently, to make the bars thinner, slide the zoom bar to the left, thus increasing the gap width.
Read More: Adjust Clustered Column Chart Spacing in Excel (4 Easy Ways)
Step 6: Change of Column Width
This is the final step of this procedure. Here, you will see what happens with the data bars of the chart after increasing or decreasing the gap width.
- Firstly, the following image shows that the data bars are wider than the actual bars seen in Step 3.
- This means, after decreasing the Gap Width in the previous step, the width of the bar will increase.
- Similarly, after increasing the Gap Width, you will see thinner bars on your column chart like in the following image.
Read More: How to Create a Variable Width Column Chart in Excel
Things to Remember
- Insert proper data range while making the chart. Otherwise, your goal of visualizing the data will fail.
- Do not increase or decrease the Gap Width too much else the bars will not look soothing after changing the width.
Conclusion
That’s the end of this article. I hope you find this article helpful. After reading the above description, you will be able to change the width of the column chart in Excel. Please share any further queries or recommendations with us in the comments section below.
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