Charts are fundamental to using Excel. Most numerical data is easier to understand when it’s reported in a visual format that shows comparisons, trends, and more. But many users find charts a little mysterious and frustrating because Excel always seems to throw data into random locations when it helps you create a chart. Charting does get easier with each version of Excel, though, and this month, we’ll explain the basics of generating a chart. Next month, we’ll cover how to format your chart and address any elements that land in strange spots.

Create Charts

You start a chart by highlighting data in a worksheet and choosing a chart type on the Insert tab. If numbers and labels appear in strange places in charts, it’s usually caused by data that’s improperly laid out in the worksheet grid. As you experiment with different chart types, you’ll learn how to arrange data to work with the chart type you’re planning to use.

Excel makes some assumptions about what you want to chart. If you click a single cell and choose a chart type, for example, Excel automatically pulls the surrounding data cells into the chart. If a range of cells includes information you don’t want in the chart, you have a couple of options. You could hide the rows/columns before selecting the range. (To hide a row or column, right-click the row number or column heading and choose Hide.) Or you can skip over certain cells as you’re selecting the range. Highlight part of the range and release the mouse button. Then hold down the CTRL key and select the rest of the range. When you’re ready to choose a chart, go to the Insert tab and click a chart type. A box drops down to show all the subtypes under Column, Line, Pie, etc. Rest the mouse pointer on a chart type to see a quick explanation of when each chart works best. If you insert a chart, but would like to see the data in a different chart type, Excel lets you experiment with a different look. Click the chart, click Change Chart Type on the Design tab, and choose a new style. Keep in mind that your data may not be properly set up for a different chart, so the results could look odd. To revert to the previous chart type, just press CTRL-Z.

By default, Excel places the chart on the active worksheet. If you’d like it to appear on a separate worksheet, click the chart and click Move Chart on the Design tab. The dialog box lets you move the chart to its own new worksheet within the workbook or onto an existing worksheet.

Set Your Chart Favorites

As with most software options, you’ll probably rely heavily on a handful of chart types, even though Excel offers dozens of options. In fact, you’ll probably have just one type that you use all the time for jobs such as generating standard reports each month. In this situation, setting a default chart type can be convenient. To choose a default type, click one of the chart type buttons on the Insert tab and choose All Chart Types at the bottom of the drop-down list. In the dialog box that appears, choose a chart type and click the Set As Default Chart button. Now you can quickly create a chart using the default type by pressing ALT-F1. (To create the chart on its own worksheet, press F11.)

Many times, a chart you design with a lot of customization makes the best template for charts you repeatedly create. The solution here is creating your own template, a technique too many users overlook in a lot of different programs. Plenty of people reuse designs they like by constantly performing a Save As procedure on an existing design and changing all the data in the file. It’s far more efficient to make your own template that’s ready to accept fresh data. To turn an existing chart into a template, choose the chart and click Save As Template on the Ribbon’s Design tab. In the dialog box, assign a name to your new template and click Save. From now on, you’ll see the chart available for selection when you click the diagonal arrow in the Charts section on the Insert tab and then click Templates.