How to Reverse X Axis in Excel (4 Quick Tricks)

Usually, we create an Excel chart to make the data more understandable and check the fluctuations of the data. Excel provides you with the features of adding gridlines to the chart you have created and also adding data to your existing chart. The two axes of a chart show a trend based on your projected data. However, you can easily add axis titles to your chart and change the axis labels of it. But, an amazing feature of Excel is that it also allows you to reverse the axis of a chart. In this article, I will show you how to reverse X axis in an Excel chart.

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4 Quick Methods to Reverse X Axis in Excel Chart

In this section, you will find 4 quick and effective methods to reverse the x-axis in a chart in Excel. I will demonstrate them one by one here. Let’s check them now!

1. Using Format Axis Feature

Let’s say, we have got a dataset of Names of the Salesman of a company and their respective Sales amount.

We have created a column chart based on this data.

Here, the X axis represents the Salesman, and the Y axis represents the Sales. Here, we want to reverse the X axis by using the Format Axis Feature. In order to do so, proceed with the following steps.

Steps:

• First of all, select the horizontal axis (i.e. X axis) and right-click on it.
• Then, a list of options will appear. Select Format Axis from the list.

• Then, the Format Axis dialogue box will appear in the right corner of the Excel window.
• Here, mark Categories in reverse order option.

• Therefore, you will see that the X axis has been arranged in the reverse order.

Read More: How to Reverse Axis Order in Excel (4 Suitable Ways)

2. Reverse X Axis Using Select Data Option

Here, we have a dataset of the Salesman, their respective Sales and Profit over a certain period of time.

We have created a Scatter Plot for the Sales Vs Profit of the Salesman.

We want to reverse the X axis to the Y axis and vice versa. Follow the steps below to serve this purpose.

Steps:

• Firstly, right-click on the data or the line, and a list of options will appear.
• Here, click Select Data from the list.

• Then, the Select Data Source dialogue box will appear. Click Edit.

• Then, the Edit Series pop-up window will appear. You will notice that Series X Values is representing the Sales value range and Series Y Values is representing the Profit range.

• Now, change the series, assign Profit to Series X Values and Sales to Series Y Values> click OK.

• After that, click OK to close the Select Data Source window.

• Hence you will get both the X and Y axis reversed.

Read More: How to Reverse Order of Data in Excel (4 Useful Methods)

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3. Sorting Chart Data to Reverse X Axis

For the dataset described in Method 1, we will now reverse the X axis by sorting the chart data. Here, it is noticeable that our sales data is arranged in descending order.

We want to reverse it and arrange it in ascending order. In order to do so, just proceed with the steps below.

Steps:

• Firstly, select the numerical data> go to the Home tab> click Editing> click Sort & Filter> select Sort Smallest to Largest.

• Then, the Sort Warning dialogue box will appear. Keep marking Expand the selection and click Sort.

• As a result, you will see that both your chart data and X axis of the chart have been reversed to ascending order.

Note: You can apply this method if your dataset is arranged either in ascending or in descending order. 

Read More: How to Reverse X and Y Axis in Excel (4 Quick Methods)

4. Using Change Series Chart Type Feature

For the same set of data, now we want to reverse the X axis with the Change Series Chart Type feature.

In order to use this feature, let’s start the process like the one below.

Steps:

• First of all, right-click on any column of the chart, and a list of options will appear.
• Here, select Change Series Chart Type.

• Then, the Change Chart Type window will show up. From the All Charts menu, click Bar to convert to a Bar Chart> choose a Bar Chart type (i.e. Clustered bar Chart).

• Hence, you will get your chart changed from Column to Bar. You will notice that the series which was on the X axis in the Column chart has been reversed to the Y axis to the Bar chart and vice versa.

Note: Same process can be followed for changing chart type from Bar to Column.

Read More: How to Reverse Data in Excel Cell (5 Easy Ways)

Things to Remember

• Format Axis feature rearranges the axis values in reverse order
• Main data is sorted to reverse axis only when it is arranged in ascending or descending order or by alphabetically ( A to Z or Z to A)
• Axes can be exchanged with the Change Series Chart Type feature by changing from Column to Bar or vice versa.
• Select Data option is used to manually exchange the axis.

Conclusion

I have tried to show you some methods to reverse X axis in an Excel chart. Thanks for reading the article! I hope this article has shed some light on your way to reverse the X axis in a chart in an Excel workbook. If you have better methods, questions, or feedback regarding this article, please don’t forget to share them in the comment box. This will help me enrich my upcoming articles. For more queries, kindly visit our website ExcelDemy. Have a great day!

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