How to Edit the Legend of a Pie Chart in Excel (3 Methods)

About Pie Chart Legend

A legend represents entries that correspond to the data displayed in the plot area of a chart. Most Excel charts include legends to help readers interpret the plotted data. When you create a pie chart in an Excel worksheet, legends are automatically generated. You can update or edit these legend entries as needed when your chart data changes.

The marked entries in your chart represent the legends for the plotted data.

Method 1 – Manual Editing of Pie Chart Legend by Updating Data in Excel

Suppose you have a dataset showing sales by salesmen over a specific time period.

• Create a chart to visualize the shop’s sales during that time.

• To edit the legend using this method:
  • Click the cell in the worksheet corresponding to the legend you want to change.

• • Enter the new legend text in the cell and press ENTER. The chart’s legend will update accordingly.

• • Repeat this process for each cell to modify other legends.

These steps allow you to manually edit legends by updating the data in the cells.

Additionally, you can adjust the orientation of legend entries by:

• Clicking the + sign at the right corner.
• Selecting Legend.
• Choosing an orientation (e.g., Right, Top, Left, Bottom).

Read More: Add Labels with Lines in an Excel Pie Chart

Method 2 – Modifying the Legend in a Pie Chart Without Changing Data

Consider the dataset below, where you want to alter the legend of an Excel pie chart without modifying the data.

Follow these steps:

• Click the chart area.
• Go to the Chart Design tab and click Select Data.

• Edit the Horizontal (Category) Axis Labels.

• Assign a new axis label range by typing the desired legends separated by commas (e.g., initial letters of salesman names).

• Click OK to confirm.

• Your pie chart’s legends will be updated accordingly.

This method allows you to change the legend without affecting the source data values.

Read More: How to Edit Pie Chart in Excel

Method 3 – Editing Legends in a Pie Chart by Changing the Source

Assume you’ve created a 3-D pie chart based on your previous dataset.

To change the legend by altering the source:

• Click the chart area.
• Go to the Chart Design tab and click Select Data.

• In the Select Data Source dialog box, click Edit for the Horizontal Axis Labels (since we want to modify them).

• Assign the desired axis label range and click OK.

• Confirm by clicking OK in the dialog box.

• Your updated pie chart with the modified legend will be ready.

That’s how you can easily edit the legend of an Excel pie chart by changing the source itself.

Read More: How to Change Pie Chart Colors in Excel

Download Practice Workbook

You can download the practice workbook from here:

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