So I type some text to emphasize that point while still leaving the data label intact.Įxcel 2013 also lets you put numbers from your spreadsheet into your data labels – that is, numbers that are not directly associated with the data point. The story behind the data in our example is that the temperature increased significantly on Wednesday and that appeared to help drive up business at the lemonade stand. Then, select the value in the data label and hit the right-arrow key on your keyboard. To make it easier to place an insertion point in the data label, I have found that it helps to zoom in on the chart. You can do this by adjusting the zoom control on the bottom right corner of Excel’s chrome. Next, I want to type custom text into the data label box to help tell the story behind the data. To delete any single data label, follow the same procedure, except click twice (and not too fast) on the individual data label you wish to delete.īelow, I have inserted just one data label and moved it to a roomy place in the chart.
#Create scatter chart in excel 2013 series
If you press the delete key on your keyboard, all the data labels from that series will disappear from your chart. To delete all the data labels for a given series, click once on any data label in the series, and this will select them all. Often, the real story doesn’t lie in all the numbers in the chart, but it’s hidden in a few key data points. Let’s reapproach our example with that in mind.įirst, I’ll delete the data labels that I already put in place. See Format and customize Excel 2013 charts quickly with the new Formatting Task pane for more discussion about the Formatting Task Pane in general. In the Formatting Task Pane, you can customize the way the data labels appear, change their size and alignment, change their text properties, and even add another data series for them to include. Here, I have double-clicked one of the data labels for the blue Drinks series. Though there are several ways to open the Formatting Task pane, the easiest is to double-click the data labels themselves. If you wish to go beyond basic text formatting and text box fills, many more formatting options are available on the Formatting Task pane. Use the Formatting Task pane for advanced options If I drag the label far from its default location, a leader line appears by default to show what data point the data label is associated with.īasic formatting of data labels is simple to achieve by using the Font section of the Home tab on the Excel ribbon. Once selected, I can drag that label wherever I want it on the chart. Here, I have selected only the Tue value of the blue Drinks series. To reposition any single data label, all I have to do is double-click the data label I want to move, then drag it to the desired position on the chart. When I click Add Data Labels, I get the following result. Once the series is selected, I can right-click any column to pull up the context menu, then click the Add Data Labels entry. One familiar and simple way is just single click on any data value (or column, in this example) to select the entire data series that it belongs to.Ībove, I have clicked all of the blue columns. If I want to turn on basic data labels on the blue data series (Drinks), there are a few ways to do that. This clustered column chart shows the sales (revenue) of drinks and snacks from a neighborhood lemonade stand during one week. To illustrate some of the features and uses of data labels, let’s first look at simple chart. The rich data label capabilities in Excel 2013 give you tools to create visuals that tell the story behind the data with maximum impact. But to make your visual message really pop, it’s often handy to add data and text to your chart. Sometimes a basic chart will do the trick. Together, they can be data visualization at its best: the science and art of transforming your data so that the most important points shine through. Storytelling is a powerful communication tool, and data is essential for many decision-making tasks.