How to Copy Chart in Excel (5 Easy Ways)

In this article, we will show you how to copy a chart in Excel in 5 easy ways. Excel charts are an excellent tool for visualizing or comparing different data. Excel allows users to create and customize charts to understand data trends and patterns better. In this process, copying charts is a common phenomenon.

You can copy a chart with or without its formatting in the same or different worksheets or workbooks, even to a different office application. I hope this article will cover everything about copying a chart in Excel.

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Copy Chart in Excel: 5 Easy Ways

In this article, we will demonstrate 5 easy ways to copy charts in Excel. For that, we have a dataset containing revenues of different regions for a company. To illustrate these data, we inserted a chart that makes visualizing the table more clearly.

Now, let us see how to copy the chart in 5 different ways.

1. Using Context Menu to Copy Chart in Same Worksheet

This first method uses a context menu for copying the chart in the same worksheet. First, select the chart, right-click on it, and from the context menu, select Copy, or just press Ctrl+C.

Then, for pasting the copied chart, select a cell where you want your chart. Right-click on the cell, and from Paste Options in the context menu, choose any option or press Ctrl+V.

The three pasting options are:

• Use Destination Theme: If you choose this option, the chart will be formatted as the cell or worksheet is formatted, losing its previous formatting.
• Keep Source Formatting: This option keeps the formatting of the copied chart.
• Picture: If you choose this option, the chart will be pasted as a picture and keep formatting as a source chart. However, you can not edit or make changes afterward to it.

2. Copying Charts to Different Worksheets

This method shows you what steps to follow if you need to copy the chart to a different worksheet. This method follows similar steps to the first method.

First, select the chart, right-click it, and choose Copy from the context menu. Then select the worksheet where you want your chart to be pasted.

We chose the Chart named worksheet.

After that, in the Chart sheet, select a cell where you want the chart to be placed. We selected cell B10 and right-clicked on it, and from the Paste Options, chose one.

3. Copying Charts to Different Office Applications

We might need to copy the chart to another Microsoft Office Application for documentation or other purposes. So, in this method, we will demonstrate how to copy a chart to a Word document.

Select the chart from the Home tab and click the Copy option to copy the chart.

Now that the chart is copied open a Word document, go to the Home tab, click on Paste, and choose any pasting options.

The pasting options are:

• Use Destination Theme & Embed Workbook: This option pastes the chart in Word by matching the destination theme.
• Keep Source Formatting & Embed Workbook: The chart will keep the Excel formatting if you choose this option.
• Use Destination Theme & Link Data: This option matches the theme of the Word document and links the chart with Excel. So, when the Excel file is updated, the chart in the Word document is also updated.
• Keep Source Formatting & Link Data: This option links the data with Excel and keeps the source formatting. So, with the data change in Excel, the chart in Word also changes.
• Picture: This option pastes the chart as a picture, neither updating the data nor changing the formatting.

Here, we chose the KeepSource Formatting & Embed Workbook option for pasting, and the outcome looks like this.

4. Copying Only Chart Format

When you need to create charts from different datasets and want to format all the charts in the same format, then editing each chart to achieve the same format every time is hectic and time-consuming. So, in this method, we will show you how to copy only the chart format in Excel.

In the image below, we have two datasets and their corresponding charts. We want the second chart to be in the same format as the first one.

First, select the first chart, then select Copy from the Home tab or press Ctrl+C.

Next, select the second chart on the right side, select Paste Special option from the Paste in the Home tab, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Alt+E+S.

After that, a message box will appear. Select the Formats option and press OK.

Lastly, you can see that the second chart is also in the same format as the first one.

Read More: How to Copy Chart Format in Excel

5. Replicating Chart with Different Data in Excel

When we need to replicate a chart with different data, meaning to keep the format, we can create the chart and copy only the format to the charts. However, we can also do it by copying the chart first and then changing the cell references of pasted charts.

First, select the chart, right-click it, and select Copy from the context menu.

Next, select a cell below the other dataset and right-click. Choose the option Keep Source Formatting from the pasting options or press Ctrl+V.

This new chart is now linked to the previous dataset, but we need to link it with another dataset. Select the new chart, go to the Chart Design tab, and click Select Data.

Next, a box named Select Data Source will appear. Click on the upside arrow on the right side of the Chart data range option.

Next, insert the new range of data. We selected H4:L8 cell range.

Then, press OK.

Lastly, you can see that the new chart’s data changed to the other dataset.

Read More: How to Duplicate Chart with Different Data in Excel

Things to Remember

• The keyboard shortcut for the Paste Special option is Alt+E+S.
• In Excel, there are three pasting options Use Destination Theme, Keep Source Formatting, and Picture.
• While pasting the chart in Word to Excel, there are five options for pasting the chart. They are: Use Destination Theme & Embed Workbook, Keep Source Formatting & Embed Workbook, Use Destination Theme & Link Data, Keep Source Formatting & Link Data, Picture.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the shortcut to copy a chart in Excel?

Ctrl+C is the keyboard shortcut for copying a chart in Excel.

2. Can you copy a chart format in Excel?

Yes, you can copy the chart format in Excel. Press Alt+E+S after copying the chart and choose the Formats option.

3. How to Copy a chart from Excel to Word without losing formatting?

To Copy a chart from Excel to Word without losing formatting, copy the chart from Excel and in Word document, go to the Paste option in the Home tab, and select Keep Source Formatting & Embed Workbook.

Conclusion

This article demonstrated 5 easy ways to copy a chart in Excel. Here, we showed how to copy charts in the same and different worksheets and different office applications. In addition to that, we showed copying only chart formatting and linking copied charts to a separate worksheet. All these methods are essential for visually presenting complex data. It facilitates consistency, saves time, and improves data-driven decision-making. All Excel users would benefit from mastering this ability.

Copy Chart in Excel: Knowledge Hub

• How to Copy a Chart to Another Sheet in Excel
• How to Copy Chart in Excel Without Linking Data
• How to Copy Chart Without Source Data and Retain Formatting in Excel

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