How to Change the Scale on an Excel Graph (Super Quick), by Excel Tutorials by EasyClick Academy on YouTube. 2 min 8 s.
- Video length
- 2 min 8 s
- Time to do it
- 5 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 8
What you need
Steps
Open your workbook and click the chart once so the chart tools and handles appear.
Right-click the numbers along the vertical axis and choose Format Axis from the menu.
In the Format Axis pane, open Axis Options and scroll to the Bounds section.
Type a new Minimum value to set where the axis starts, such as 0 so bars are not cut off.
Type a new Maximum value slightly above your largest data point so the top label still shows.
Change Major Unit to set the gap between gridlines and labels, for example 10, 100 or 1000.
Press Enter or click outside the pane to apply the new scale to the chart.
To change the horizontal axis, right-click its labels and set Bounds and Units the same way.
Tips and common mistakes
If the axis labels look crowded, raise the Major Unit instead of shrinking the font.
Use the Number section in the same pane to add decimal places, a thousands separator or a currency symbol.
Leaving Minimum or Maximum on Auto lets Excel reset your numbers when the data changes.
Questions
Why can't I edit the axis numbers?
You may have clicked the data labels or the plot area instead of the axis. Click directly on the axis line or its numbers, then right-click. Pie and doughnut charts have no value axis to scale.
How do I undo the change?
Open Format Axis again and set Minimum, Maximum and Major Unit back to Auto, or press Ctrl+Z right after the change.
Does this work in Excel on a Mac?
Yes. Right-click the axis and pick Format Axis. The settings sit in a side pane with the same Bounds and Units fields.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
