No lines in excel graph

Specific line and bar types are available in 2-D stacked bar and column charts, line charts, pie of pie and bar of pie charts, area charts, and stock charts.

Predefined line and bar types that you can add to a chart

Depending on the chart type that you use, you can add one of the following lines or bars:

• Series lines    These lines connect the data series in 2-D stacked bar and column charts to emphasize the difference in measurement between each data series. Pie of pie and bar of pie charts display series lines by default to connect the main pie chart with the secondary pie or bar chart.

• Drop lines    Available in 2-D and 3-D area and line charts, these lines extend from data points to the horizontal (category) axis to help clarify where one data marker ends and the next data marker starts.

• High-low lines    Available in 2-D line charts and displayed by default in stock charts, high-low lines extend from the highest value to the lowest value in each category.

• Up-down bars    Useful in line charts with multiple data series, up-down bars indicate the difference between data points in the first data series and the last data series. By default, these bars are also added to stock charts, such as Open-High-Low-Close and Volume-Open-High-Low-Close.

Add predefined lines or bars to a chart

1. Click the 2-D stacked bar, column, line, pie of pie, bar of pie, area, or stock chart to which you want to add lines or bars.

   This displays the Chart Tools, adding the Design, Layout, and Format tabs.

2. On the Layout tab, in the Analysis group, do one of the following:

   • Click Lines, and then click the line type that you want.

     Note: Different line types are available for different chart types.

   • Click Up/Down Bars, and then click Up/Down Bars.

Tip: You can change the format of the series lines, drop lines, high-low lines, or up-down bars that you display in a chart by right-clicking the line or bar, and then clicking Format <line or bar type> .

Remove predefined lines or bars from a chart

1. Click the 2-D stacked bar, column, line, pie of pie, bar of pie, area, or stock chart that displays predefined lines or bars.

   This displays the Chart Tools, adding the Design, Layout, and Format tabs.

2. On the Layout tab, in the Analysis group, click Lines or Up/Down Bars, and then click None to remove lines or bars from a chart.

Tip: You can also remove lines or bars immediately after you add them to the chart by clicking Undo on the Quick Access Toolbar or by pressing CTRL+Z.

You can add other lines to any data series in an area, bar, column, line, stock, xy (scatter), or bubble chart that is 2-D and not stacked.

Add other lines

1. This step applies to Word for Mac only: On the View menu, click Print Layout.

2. In the chart, select the data series that you want to add a line to, and then click the Chart Design tab. 

   

   For example, in a line chart, click one of the lines in the chart, and all the data marker of that data series become selected.

3. Click Add Chart Element, and then click Gridlines.

   

4. Choose the line option that you want or click More Gridline Options.

   

   Depending on the chart type, some options may not be available.

Remove other lines

1. This step applies to Word for Mac only: On the View menu, click Print Layout.

2. Click the chart with the lines, and then click the Chart Design tab.

   

3. Click Add Chart Element, click Gridlines, and then click More Gridline Options.

   

4. Select No line.

   

   You can also click the line and press DELETE .

To make the data in a chart/graph easier to read, it helps to add horizontal and/or vertical gridlines.

Gridlines are lines that go horizontally and vertically across your chart plot to show divisions in the chart axes (below is a chart that shows horizontal gridlines).

These gridlines usually align with points on the chart’s axes, so it is easier to trace the value corresponding to a point on the graph.

They are especially helpful when you have large and complicated charts, or when data points on the chart are unlabeled.

Excel lets you display three kinds of gridlines:

• Horizontal gridlines
• Vertical gridlines
• Depth gridlines (for 3-D charts)

Gridlines can also be displayed for both major and minor units.

Those that align with major tick marks on the axes are called major gridlines. Minor gridlines separate the units defined by the major gridlines and as such let you mark the finer details in your chart.

In this tutorial we will show you how to add major and minor gridlines to your chart and how to format them:

• Using the Chart Elements button
• Using the Chart Tools menu

We will also show you how you can hide or remove gridlines from your chart if you need to.

Two Ways to Add and Format Gridlines in Excel

Let’s say you have the following chart:

Notice that without gridlines it’s hard to tell what value each of the bars corresponds to.

So we need to insert some gridlines into the chart to make it easier to read the values the bars represent.

Of course, you have the option to add data labels as well, but in many cases, having too many data labels can make the chart look cluttered. So having gridlines can be useful in such cases

Let us now see two ways to insert major and minor gridlines in Excel.

Method 1: Using the Chart Elements Button to Add and Format Gridlines

The Chart Elements button appears to the right of your chart when it is selected.

This button allows you to add, change or remove chart elements like the title, legend, gridlines, and labels.

Here’s what the button looks like:

Adding the Gridlines

To add the gridlines, here are the steps that you need to follow:

1. Click anywhere on the chart
2. Click on the Chart Elements button (the one with ‘+’ icon).
3. A checklist of chart elements should appear now. Make sure that the checkbox next to ‘Gridlines’ is checked.

1. This will display the major gridlines on your chart.
2. When you hover over the Gridlines checkbox, you will notice a small arrow to its right, as shown below.

1. Click on this arrow to see additional options for the gridlines. These include:

• Primary Major Horizontal – select this if you want to display major horizontal gridlines
• Primary Major Vertical – select this if you want to display major vertical gridlines
• Primary Minor Horizontal – select this if you want to display minor horizontal gridlines
• Primary Minor Vertical – select this if you want to display minor vertical gridlines
• More Options – select this option if you want to format the gridlines.

Select checkboxes next to the gridlines that you want to display on your chart. 

Formatting the Gridlines

Select ‘More Options’ if you want to format the gridlines. 

This will open a sidebar to the right of the Excel window that lets you format your chart elements. Format your selected gridlines as you see fit.

Once you’re done, you can close the sidebar.

Editing the Gridlines

The next time you need to edit the gridlines, double-click on the axis corresponding to the gridlines that you want to change.

For example, if you want to change the horizontal gridlines, double-clock on the x-axis.

In other words, select the axis that is perpendicular to the gridlines that you want to change.

This will open the Format Axis sidebar to the right of the Excel window. 

Select the dropdown arrow next to ‘Axis Options’. Select the gridlines option that you want to change. For example, if you want to change the format for the major horizontal gridlines, select the ‘Vertical (Value) Axis Major Gridlines’ option.

Here, you’ll find two tabs:

• Fill & Line : This tab lets you set the outline and fill color/pattern of the selected gridlines.

• Effects: This tab lets you set effects like Shadow, Glow and Soft Edges to the selected gridlines.

Use the tabs to change your gridline formats to whatever you need.

Note: If you want to see or change the number of gridlines displayed on your chart, you can take a look at the Major and Minor input boxes (under the Units category of the Axis Options tab). Try increasing or decreasing these numbers to change the number of gridlines displayed.

Also read: How to Add Axis Titles in Excel?

Method 2: Using the Chart Tools Menu to Insert and Format Gridlines

The Chart Tools ribbon can be seen in the main menu when you click on your chart. This menu consists of two tabs – Design and Format. 

So, a second way to add and format gridlines is to use the Design tab from the Chart Tools. Here’s how:

1. Click on your chart.
2. You should see the Chart Tools menu appear in the main menu.
3. Select the Design tab from the Chart Tools menu.
4. Click on ‘Add Chart Element’ (under the ‘Chart Layouts’ group).

1. A dropdown menu should appear, with different chart element options.

1. Hover over ‘Gridlines’.

1. A submenu consisting of different options relating to gridlines should appear. Select the type of gridlines that you want to add. You can add more than one type of gridlines in your chart.

1. The gridlines should now appear on your chart.

Note: Notice the vertical axis is categorical and basically has no minor divisions. So even though there is an option to display minor vertical gridlines, they will not show on this chart when selected. Minor divisions don’t make sense for category axes.  

Removing Gridlines in Excel

To remove gridlines, follow the steps demonstrated below:

1. Click anywhere on the chart.
2. Click on the Chart Elements button.

1. If you want to remove all the gridlines, then uncheck the box next to ‘Gridlines’. 

1. If you want to remove a specific set of gridlines, then hover over the Gridlines checkbox.
2. Click on the small arrow to its right.

1. Uncheck the box next to the gridlines that you want to remove/ hide.

Here’s what the chart would look like with the only minor horizontal gridlines removed:

Another quick way to remove gridlines (or any element in an Excel chart) is to select them and hit the delete button. In the case of gridlines, you will see that all the gridlines have been selected (and hitting the Delete button will only delete the ones that were selected.

In this tutorial, we showed you two ways to add and format gridlines in Excel.

We also showed you how to quickly remove the specific gridlines and what to do if you want to edit the formatting of gridlines s(like color, style, etc.)

We hope this tutorial was useful for you and easy to follow.

Other Excel charting tutorials you may also find useful:

• How to Insert Chart Title in Excel?
• How to Create Bar of Pie Chart in Excel?
• How to Move a Chart to a New Sheet in Excel
• How to Print Gridlines in Excel (3 Easy Ways)
• How to Make Box Plot (Box and Whisker Chart) in Excel?
• How to Add a Trendline in Excel Charts?
• How to Remove Gridlines in Excel (Shortcut + VBA)
• How to Add Border to a Chart in Excel
• How to Add Secondary Axis in Excel Charts?

Here’s a common data visualization challenge: Slides with some, but not all, of the chronological data included. 

The Challenge 

The challenge is twofold: 

• First, how do you take your bullet points and transform them into a graph? What type of graph should it be? How should it be formatted? How do you make the graph easy to understand?  
• Second, what if your dates don’t go in order? What if you’ve got data for one point in time… and then you skip a big chunk in the middle?  

The Excel Solution that Doesn’t Work 

First, I tried filling in my table with the few data points that were available. 

Excel doesn’t quite know what to do with that.  

Excel didn’t show anything at all for FY07. No dot. Nothing. 

And, there’s all this white space between FY07 and FY17, which is obviously not going to work.  

Using Dotted Lines to Show Uncertainty 

Here’s the edited version. 

We used a dotted line to connect two points on the graph. Dotted lines are great for visualizing estimates or uncertainty.  

So how did I do this?  

How to Add Placeholder Data to Your Table 

You need to fill in some placeholder numbers with estimated values. 

In this example, we’ll make our line increase by 5.27% each year. 

How to Calculate a Placeholder Value 

To find the placeholder value, I took the FY18 number minus the FY07 number and divided that by 11. Why 11? Because there’s an 11-year gap between FY07 and FY18.  

Increase Each Year by the Placeholder Value 

Each year increases by 5.27%. 

In the first box, it’s 30% plus 5.27%. 

The next box is 35% plus 5.27%. And so on. 

Selective Labeling Will Focus Your Audience on Your Years of Choice 

In the table, you’ll notice that these placeholder values don’t have fiscal years above them.  

I don’t want every single year’s label to show up in the graph. I want to focus on the numbers that we do have data for.  

How to Change Solid Lines to Dotted Lines in Excel 

After setting up your table, you’re going to insert a line graph just like you’ve done a million times before. By default, Excel gives you a solid line.  

How do you get the dotted line appearance? This part is really easy!  

Click Once to Edit the Entire Line 

If you click once on the line, you’ll notice that all of the dots are selected.  

You can edit the entire line at once, just as you normally do. For example, you can change the line’s color, width, etc. 

Click Twice to Edit Pieces of the Line  

If you click on one of the dots a second time, then you can edit one smaller segment of the line at a time. 

The dot controls the piece of the line just before it. You would click on the dot in this screenshot, for example, to edit just the section of line to the left of it.  

Right-click on that dot and select Outline.

Then, click on Dashes.

Experiment with a Few Different Dashed Styles 

You’ll need to try a few different dashed styles.  

Some styles work better for smaller graphs, and some styles work better for larger graphs. It depends on whether your graph is going into a tiny space in a Word report, or into a large slide in a PowerPoint presentation. 

For this particular graph, I didn’t change the segments to dashed lines one at a time. That would be way too much work! Since all but one segment would be dashed, I set the entire line to be dashed, and then set one segment to be solid. 

Avoid Using Text Boxes and Shapes Whenever Possible 

Sometimes people think I’m going to Insert –> Shape and adding some type of dashed line.  

While you’d get the same end result… that would be a lot of work.  

I don’t want to add text boxes or shapes on my graphs if I can avoid it.  

I work on a lot of automation projects, so the more built-in features you can have, the better. Manually creating shapes is clunky and time-consuming. 

Bonus! Watch a Tutorial 

I’ve always found that watching someone’s mouse click on the screen makes learning a million times easier than following screenshots. 

Here’s the video version of this blog post, where you’ll learn exactly which buttons to click on. 

Bonus! Download the Excel File 

Download the Excel file used in this tutorial and use it however you’d like.  

Download the File

Your Turn 

Comment below and let me see examples of dotted lines in your projects. I look forward to hearing from you.