How to Create Graph from List of Dates in Excel (with Easy Steps)

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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.


Watch Video – Graph from List of Dates in Excel


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.

How to Create Graph from List of Dates in Excel

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 Create Graph from List of Dates in Excel


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.

How to Create Graph from List of Dates in Excel

  • 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.

How to Create Graph from List of Dates in Excel

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.

How to Create Graph from List of Dates in Excel

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.

How to Create Graph from List of Dates in Excel

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.

How to Create Graph from List of Dates in Excel

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.

How to Create Graph from List of Dates in Excel

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:

How to Create Graph from List of Dates in Excel

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:

How to Create Graph from List of Dates in Excel

Here’s our final output.


Download Practice Workbook

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.


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Md. Sourov Hossain Mithun
Md. Sourov Hossain Mithun

Hello! I am Md. Sourov Hossain Mithun. Currently, I am working at Exceldemy as an Excel and VBA Content Developer. Excel is an amazing software to learn or work. Here, I will post Excel related useful articles. I am a graduate of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. I love to learn new things and work with them. Thank you.

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