Creating a Column Chart 

Today, we want to learn how to insert a bar or a col­umn chart in Excel.

For a start, we can select a cell in our dataset. We can also select the whole set. Then, we go to the Insert tab and choose a prop­er chart. I per­son­al­ly like 2 D columns, so I’ll select it (Fig. 1)

And just like that, we have our chart. We can mod­i­fy its size by drag­ging the bor­ders. When you drag the chart hold­ing the Alt key at the same time, Excel will match the size of the chart to cell bor­ders, which is a nice trick. 

Now, that we have our chart, let’s change the way it looks. Let’s go to the Chart Design tab and choose one from the Chart Styles (Fig. 2)

We can also decide what indi­vid­ual chart ele­ments we want to change. If we want to delete hor­i­zon­tal lines, we can just click on them once, and press the Delete but­ton. If we want to have wider columns, we have to click on them, then press Ctrl + 1, which will open the For­mat Data Series win­dow, where we can change the Gap Width. Let’s change it to 55 %. Now it looks good (Fig. 3)

I will also add data labels. Let’s go to the Chart Ele­ments (1) , and choose Inside End Data Labels (2) (Fig. 4)

Now, let’s change the font col­or into white. You can find this option in the Home tab (1) , in the Font area (2) (Fig. 5)

And just like that we’ve cre­at­ed a col­umn chart. When we change some val­ues in our dataset, our val­ues in the chart will also change (Fig. 6)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6DuYrzMCpI