How to Remove One Data Point from Excel Chart

Get FREE Advanced Excel Exercises with Solutions!

Microsoft Excel is a great tool to make illustrative and beautiful charts as it provides many built-in chart styles. However, sometimes we may need to remove a specific data point from an existing Excel chart. In this article, we will discuss how to remove one data point from an excel chart.


Download Practice Workbook

Download this practice workbook to exercise while you are reading this article.


3 Useful Methods to Remove One Data Point From Excel Chart

In this section, we will demonstrate 3 effective methods to remove one data point from an excel chart. For illustration, I have taken a chart and its associated data set.

how to remove one data point from excel chart

In this line chart, I have some hypothetical selling data for an imaginary shop for the first 10 months of a year( From January to October). Now, we want to remove one data point from the chart (such as June).  Let’s look at the first method to achieve this goal.


1. Use of Filter to Remove One Data Point

This method is applicable when you have already created an excel chart that includes all data points. Now to remove one data point, follow the steps below.

Steps:

  • First, bring your mouse pointer onto the chart and left-click on it. Consequently, you will see a menu bar on the right side of the chart. Now, from the menu, left-click on the Chart Filters option.

Use of Filter to Remove One Data Point

  • Eventually, you will see another menu appearing on the right side that contains Categories(Month’s Name).
  • Now from that list, deselect the month’s name whose corresponding data you want to remove from the Excel chart. Here, I have deselected Jun and then click on Apply.

Use of Filter to Remove One Data Point

  • As a result, even though my data set contains the data point of June, it has been excluded from the graph. If you carefully look at the graph now, you should notice that between May and July, the June month’s data is no longer appearing on the chart.

Read More: How to Exclude Data Points from Trendline in Excel


2. Delete Data to Remove from Excel Chart

Deleting data is not usually encouraged especially in the scientific community but if you have no problem deleting the data which you want to remove from the Excel chart then this method is for you. To know more, follow the steps below.

Steps:

  • Here, we can see that the charts have already been made and it contains all of the data points from the left data table. From here, we want to exclude Jun’s data point.

  • To do that, first, select the row containing Jun on the table and right-click on the mouse. Consequently, a menu will appear.
  • Now, from the menu, click on Delete.

Delete Data to Remove from Excel Chart

  • Consequently, another dialogue box will appear. Now, from the options, select Shift cells up and click OK.

Delete Data to Remove from Excel Chart

  • As a result, you will see that the data point of June has been removed not only from the data table but also from the chart as well.

Delete Data to Remove from Excel Chart

Read More: How to Edit Chart Data in Excel (5 Suitable Examples)


Similar Readings


3. Selection of Only Data Points That Are to Be Included

You can apply this method if you have not made the Excel chart yet. To construct an excel chart that will contain all the data points in a table except one, follow the steps below.

Steps:

  • Similar to the previous two examples, we will make the excel chart without the month of June. To do that, first, select the data on the upper rows from June( January to May). Then, by holding the Ctrl key, select the lower rows from June (July to October).

  • Now, go to the Insert tab from the ribbon.

Select Only the Data Points That Are to Be Included

  • From there, select any chart style you like. I have chosen the 2D line chart.

  • Consequently, you will have an Excel chart without the removed/unselected data point (June).

Select Only the Data Points That Are to Be Included

  • Now, you can always add the Chart Title, Axis Title, and so on for further beautification.

Read More: How to Select Data for a Chart in Excel (2 Ways)


Things to Remember

  • Use the 1st and 2nd methods if your graph already exists.
  • Use 2nd method when you are good to delete the unnecessary data point

Conclusion

That is the end of this article. If you find this article helpful in understanding how to remove one data point from an excel chart, please share this with your friends. Moreover, do let us know if you have any further queries. Finally, please visit Exeldemy for more exciting articles on Excel.


Related Articles

Aniruddah Alam

Aniruddah Alam

Hi, I am Md. Aniruddah Alam from Dhaka, Bangladesh. I completed my Bachelor's degree in Naval Architecture from BUET. Currently, I am working as an Excel and VBA Content Developer. Here, I always try to present solutions to Excel-related problems in a very concise and easy-to-understand manner. In my leisure time, I love to read books, listen to podcasts, and explore new things.

We will be happy to hear your thoughts

Leave a reply

Advanced Excel Exercises with Solutions PDF

 

 

ExcelDemy
Logo