How to Move Data Labels In Excel Chart (2 Easy Methods)

Excel is often used to make charts and graphs that show how data looks. We often put labels on charts to help us understand them better. Also we try to put the labels in different places depending on what we need. In this article, we’ll show you how simple it is to move data labels in Excel chart.

How to Move Data Labels In Excel Chart: 2 Easy Methods

We can move data labels in an excel chart using 2 different methods. To describe these methods and their steps properly, we can consider this table in the example below. It shows the monthly budget of a student to buy different study items.

And based on the table, we have a column chart like the image below.

The two different methods and their steps are given below.

1. Move Data Labels in Excel Chart by Drag & Drop Option

Drag and drop is the easiest method to move data labels in an Excel chart. To do so, we will follow these steps.

Steps:

To begin with, select the label we want to move. In our case, we want to move Pencil’s data label to a higher position.

In addition, drag the label to any expected place. In our case, we will drag it higher.

Finally, drop the data to the expected position and we will have our results.

Read More: How to Rotate Data Labels in Excel

2. Use Format Data Labels Task Pane to Move Data Labels in Excel Chart

Using the Drag and Drop option, we can move only one data label to a certain place in the excel chart. But if we want to move all the data labels together to excel defined positions, we can use the Format Data Labels task pane right side of the screen. The steps are given below.

Steps:

Firstly double click on any of the data labels. This will open the Format Data Labels task pane.

Secondly, in the Format Data Labels task pane, select Label Options.
Thirdly, in Label Options, find Label Position and select the position where we want to move the labels.

Lastly, selecting any of the positions will reposition our data labels. For example, we want to show our data labels in the middle. So we will select Center. After selecting Center, the end result will look like the image below.

That’s how we move data labels in Excel very easily.

Read More: How to Edit Data Labels in Excel

Things to Remember

The Drag and Drop system moves only one label. To move all the labels, we will need to manually drag and drop labels. If there are a lot of labels, this method is lengthy.
Format Data Labels option is suitable if we need to move all the labels at once.

Download Practice Workbook

You can download the practice workbook from here.

Move Data Labels.xlsx

Conclusion

Showing Data Labels and modifying them is a very useful feature in Excel that is used very often. In this article, we saw how to modify the position of data labels in an Excel chart very easily. If you’re still having trouble with any of these steps, let us know in the comments. Our team is ready to answer all of your questions.

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