Like the other graphs, creating a graph from a list of dates in Excel is nothing different. It follows the same procedures. But if you don’t know that then you have come to the right place I can say. So in this article, today I’ll show the easy ways to create a graph from a list of dates in Excel with clear steps and proper illustrations.
How to Create Graph from List of Dates in Excel: Easy Steps
First of all, get introduced to our dataset that represents the daily orders of a week for an online shop. By creating a graph from these dates, we’ll be able to understand on which day the shop gets the highest number of orders in that week.
Steps:
- Click on any data from the dataset.
- Then click on the Insert ribbon and select any graph from the Chart section. I selected the Clustered Column from the Insert Column or Bar Chart option.
Soon after, you will see that Excel has created a graph in your current sheet. You can drag and place it in your preferred position by using your mouse. I placed it just under my dataset.
How to Customize Graph of Dates in Excel
You can apply a lot of customization to your graph in Excel. Because the default inserted graph will look not so good, by customizing it we can give a better look. So in this section, we’ll learn some important and mostly used customizations in Excel graphs.
Change Design
First, we’ll learn how to change the design of the graph. We can do it in two ways.
Steps:
- The first way is – click on the graph and then click the Chart Design ribbon.
- Later, just select any design from the Chart Styles section.
- The second way is – to click on the Chart Styles icon from your graph that you will get after clicking anywhere in the graph.
- Next, select a chart style from the list. I selected Style 9.
Here’s the outlook of the newly selected design. I think it’s looking better than the default design.
Read More: How to Show Only Dates with Data in Excel Chart
Change Color
After selecting any design, you can change the colors of your design. The basic design will be the same, just the colors will be changed.
Steps:
- Click anywhere on the graph.
- After that, click as follows: Chart Design > Change Colors.
- Then select a color template from the appeared list. I chose Colorful Palette 3.
You can get the same options in another way.
- Click on the Chart Styles icon again and then select the Color section.
- Later, select the color template.
Now see the outlook of the graph. Pretty cool, right?
Read More: How to Change Date Range in Excel Chart
Change Axis Bound
If you want to skip some dates for your graph by setting the minimum and maximum bounds then also it’s possible in Excel.
Steps:
- Right-click your mouse on the Date label.
- Then select Format Axis from the context menu. Or, just double-click on the date label.
Soon after, you will see that the Format Axis field has opened on the right side of your sheet.
- From the Axis Options, set the minimum and maximum limits. I kept the minimum limit the same and set the maximum limit to 6/8/2022.
Now have a look, the graph has been recreated according to the new bounds.
Change Alignment of Dates
You may have already seen that the dates in the graph are aligned inclined. Because the dates are consuming wide space. So if you don’t like the inclined alignment then you can align it vertically.
Steps:
- Follow the first two steps from the immediate previous section to open the Format Axis field.
- Later, click on the Size & Properties section.
- Then select Rotate all text 270° from the Text direction drop-down box.
Then you will get the output like the image below.
Change Fill Color of Dates
By changing the fill color, we can highlight the dates.
Steps:
- Follow the first two steps from the previous Change Axis Bound section to get the Format Axis
- Then click on Fill & Line option.
- After that, mark Solid fill, set color, and transparency. I chose dark blue color and 50% transparency.
Here’s our final output.
You can download the free Excel workbook from here and practice independently.
Conclusion
That’s all for the article. I hope the procedures described above will be good enough to create a graph from a list of dates in Excel. Feel free to ask any questions in the comment section and give me feedback.
