Excel Bar Chart Side by Side with Secondary Axis

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If you are searching for the solution or some special tricks to make a bar chart side-by-side secondary axis in Excel. then you have landed in the right place. There is a quick way to make a bar chart side by side secondary axis in Excel. This article will show you each step with proper illustrations so, you can easily apply them for your purpose. Let’s get into the main part of the article.


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Steps to Make a Bar Chart Side by Side with Secondary Axis in Excel

Suppose, you have a dataset containing the sales quantity of two products for 6 months and you want to make a bar chart with this data.

Excel Bar Chart Side by Side with Secondary Axis

But, after making a simple 2D Column Bar chart, you have found that sales of product B are very high and of product, A is very low, so in the bar chart, the heights of product A columns are very small. Here, it is necessary to apply a secondary axis for this.

Excel Bar Chart Side by Side with Secondary Axis

In this section, I will show you a quick and easy method to make a bar chart side by side secondary axis in Excel on Windows operating system. You will find detailed explanations of methods and formulas here. I have used Microsoft 365 version here. But you can use any other versions as of your availability. If any methods won’t work in your version then leave us a comment.


Step 1: Insert 2 New Columns

You have to play a trick to make a secondary axis in a bar chart showing columns on sides because, in Excel, there isn’t any default option to create this.

  • For this, create two new columns between the product columns. Just right–click on column D and select the Insert

Insert 2 New Columns

  • You will see a new column will create. Rename it Column 1. Then similarly add column 2.

Insert 2 New Columns


Step 2: Make Bar Chart

Now, select the full data table and make a Bar chart. Now, you will see a similar chart will create.

Make Bar Chart

Read More: How to Create a Bar Chart in Excel with Multiple Bars (3 Ways)


Similar Readings


Step 3: Apply Secondary Axis

Now, select any of the bar groups and right-click on it. Here, you will find the Format Data Series option. Press on it.

Apply Secondary Axis

  • Now a new window will appear on the right side of the worksheet.
  • Select the Secondary Axis option here.

Apply Secondary Axis

  • As a result, you will see a new secondary vertical axis will create on the right side of the chart which is giving the values for product B and the left side axis is giving the values for product A.

Apply Secondary Axis

Read More: How to Hide Secondary Axis in Excel Without Losing Data


Step 4: Remove Extra Columns

Now, you can remove the columns added extra to make the bar chart secondary axis side by side.

  • For this, right–click on the legend on the chart.
  • And, select the Delete

Remove Extra Columns

  • Now, you have got finally the bar chart with the secondary axis side by side.

Excel Bar Chart Side by Side with Secondary Axis

Read More: How to Add Secondary Axis in Excel Pivot Chart (with Easy Steps)


Conclusion

In this article, you have found a special trick to making Excel bar chart secondary axis side by side. I hope you found this article helpful. You can visit our website ExcelDemy to learn more Excel-related content. Please, drop comments, suggestions, or queries if you have any in the comment section below.


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Osman Goni Ridwan
Osman Goni Ridwan

I am Ridwan, graduated from Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Dept, BUET, currently residing in Dhaka, Bangladesh. And my passion is to grow up my skillsets with industry demands. My prime goal is to be a data analyst as I do love to solve problems and play with data.

2 Comments
  1. Many thanks for this – brilliant way to leverage Excel graphing – appreciated!

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