Change Default Chart Type in Excel

Change the Default Chart Type in Excel

On July 25th I announced a giveaway for Jon Peltier’s amazing Chart Utility, and thanks for all the entries! The deadline was yesterday, August 5th, at 12 noon Eastern time, and the winner of the random draw is:

Congratulations, and Jon will send you an email to arrange the delivery of your Chart Utility. You’ll have 24 hours to reply to his email.

Change the Default Chart Type

And now, here is a chart tip, for those times when you’re creating a simple chart.

When you first install Excel, the default chart type is a clustered column. If you select data and press the F11 key, that’s the type of chart that will be created.

clustered column chart
clustered column chart

If you’d like a different chart type as the default, you can easily change it. Here are the steps in Excel 2013:

  • On the Ribbon’s Insert tab, click the See All Charts button, at the bottom right of the Charts group.
click the See All Charts button
click the See All Charts button
  • Click the All Charts tab, and click one of the chart categories, such as Line.
  • Right-click one of the chart sub-types, such as Line, and click on Set As Default Chart
click on Set As Default Chart
click on Set As Default Chart
  • Click Cancel, to close the Insert Chart window.

In Excel 2010, the steps are almost the same – just click the Set as Default Chart button after you select a chart sub-type.

click the Set as Default Chart button
click the Set as Default Chart button

Watch the Video

To see the steps for creating a quick chart, and changing the default chart type in Excel 2010, watch this short video.

________________

0 thoughts on “Change Default Chart Type in Excel”

  1. Dashboard tool add-in glorifies and make your dashboard stand a league apart from the crowd.It is the tool which can add value to your dashboard.I have always longed for creating beautiful dashboards,but did not nave ideas or expertise in creating them.I was an basic user of excel till I began understanding the magical world of excel through contextures and other blogs and websites.

  2. I’m trying to change the chart type on excel 2013 but it will not allow me. Sometimes I have access to the different charts, and sometimes I don’t. Any ideas?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.