How to Change Order of Excel Stacked Area Chart (With Quick Steps)

The stacked area chart is one of the handiest tools in Excel to visualize a large dataset easily. You can understand the contribution of each category of the whole dataset through this chart. Now, it might be needed frequently to change your chart order. In this article, I will show you detailed steps to change the order of an Excel stacked area chart.

How to Add a Stacked Area Chart in Excel

Suppose, you have a dataset of 6 months’ sales data of an electronic store. Now, you can create a stacked area chart in Excel using these data by following the steps below.

📌 Steps:

First and foremost, select your dataset which is B5:E10 here. Afterward, go to the Insert tab >> Insert Line or Area Chart tool >> Stacked Area option.

As a result, you will see that there is a stacked area chart for your selected data range.

Now, for better visualization of the chart, click on the Chart Elements tool and tick only the Axes and the Legend options.

Now, your legends are not so understanding as they are named Series1,2 and 3. To overcome this, right-click on the chart area and choose the Select Data… option from the context menu.

Consequently, the Select Data Source window will appear. Following, click on the Series 1 legend entry and click on the Edit button.

As a result, the Edit Series window will appear now. Write Desktop at the Series name: text box, as this dataset is representing the Desktop column data. Last but not least, click on the OK button.

Similarly, for Series 2 and 3, write Laptop and Mobile respectively. Finally, click on the OK button from the Select Data Source window.

Thus, you can see you have an understandable and better-looking stacked area chart of your dataset now. For example, it would look like this.

How to Change Order of Stacked Area Chart in Excel (With Easy Steps)

Now, suppose, you want to change the order of the stacked area chart. Say, you want to show the Mobile data first, Laptop data second, and Desktop data last. Follow the steps below to do this.

📌 Step 1: Right-Click on Chart Area and Navigate to Select Data Source Window

At the very beginning, click on the chart area and right-click on your mouse. Following, choose the Select Data… option from the context menu.

Consequently, the Select Data Source window will appear.

Read More: Excel Stacked Area Chart Negative Values

📌 Step 2: Reorganize Order of Series

Say, you want to put the Mobile data first, Laptop data second, and Desktop data last. To do this, select the Desktop series and click the downward arrow button twice.

Afterward, select the Mobile series and click on the upward arrow button.

Read More: Excel Area Chart Data Label Position

📌 Final Step: Finalize the Series Order and Press OK

Now, you can see all the series’ are aligned as you want. Finally, click on the OK button.

Thus, you can change the Excel stacked area chart order to your requirements. For instance, the outcome should look like this.

Download Practice Workbook

You can download and practice from our workbook here for free!

Stacked Area Chart Change Order.xlsx

Conclusion

To conclude, in this article, I have shown detailed steps to change the order of an Excel stacked area chart. I would suggest you go through the full article carefully and practice thoroughly. You can also download our practice workbook from here for free. I hope you find this article helpful and informative. If you have any further queries or recommendations, please feel free to comment here.