Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart http://www.exceldashboardtemplates.com/ How-to Create a Vertical Line in an Excel Chart 3 ways. One by using Shapes, one by using Additional series and one by adding an XY Scatter line series.

1. 3 Ways to Create Vertical
Lines in an Excel Line Chart

2. Adding Vertical Lines
• What if you had this line chart and
wanted to add 2 vertical lines, one
vertical line on Tuesday and one on
Thursday. In this presentation, you will
learn how to add vertical lines to a
standard Excel line chart. There is also
a video demonstration link at the end of
the presentation.
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 2

3. From Beginning to End
• You will start
with a standard
line chart
• and here is
what the final
chart should
look like:
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 3

4. Setup Your Data
• Create a spreadsheet with this data
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 4

5. Vertical Lines – Way 1 of 3
• Add a Vertical Line using Excel Shapes
• The 1st and typically easiest way to Add
a Vertical Line to an Excel Line Chart is
to just draw an Excel Shape of a Line on
top of the Excel Line Chart.
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 5

6. 1. Create your Excel Line Chart
2. Select Insert Ribbon
3. Select Shapes in the Illustrations
Group
4. Select the Line without arrows in the
line section
5. Draw your Line on top of the Excel
Line Chart you have already created.
6. With the Line selected, Press
CTRL+1 to format the Excel Shape
7. Change the Width to 3pt
8. Change the Line Color to Red
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 6
Animated Demonstration Visible in Slide Show Mode
This is really the easiest way to add a line, HOWEVER, the line is not very dynamic and may
get “OUT OF LINE” if you will when you add new data points to your line chart. So you will
have to constantly adjust the line as the chart adjusts.

7. Vertical Lines – Way 2 of 3
• Add an Additional Column Series
• This is my recommended way to quickly and
easily add as many vertical lines as you want
to your Excel Line Chart. It is dynamic and can
be controlled with formulas and it will move
and adjust as you add data points.
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 7

8. Add Column Series – Step 1
• Add an additional column of data that will
create an additional line series in your
Excel Chart. You will see that I have
added a data point for each day at a value
of 12. This is 20% above the real data
because I want the vertical lines to go
above the data and reach the maximum
vertical position of the vertical axis. (Note,
you will set this vertical axis maximum as
detailed below.)
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 8

9. Add Column Series – Step 2
• Highlight the New Data Range and Create your Line chart. You will
have 2 horizontal lines and your graph will look like the picture
below. Note, you can see the red horizontal line (titled Vertical Lines)
because we have put a value for every day. If we had only put a 12 on
Tuesday and Thursday, we would not have seen the line because they
would have been two data points that were not adjacent, thus it would
not depict a line for you to easily see and select.
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 9

10. Add Column Series – Step 3
• Right Click on the Vertical Line Series. In this case, the Red Data
Series. Then from the Pop up menu, choose “Change Series Chart
Type…"”
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 10

11. Add Column Series – Step 4a
• Change the Excel Chart Type to a 2-D Clustered Column Chart.
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 11

12. Add Column Series – Step 4b
• It will then look like this:
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 12

13. Add Column Series – Step 5
• We are getting very close. Lets change a few things. First, we wanted
to only have vertical lines at Tuesday and Thursday. So lets delete the
Vertical Lines data values from all days except Tuesday and
Thursday. Your chart will now look like this:
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 13

14. Add Column Series – Step 6a
• Now lets make the columns look more
like lines by changing some of their
formatting. First, right click on either
column and then choose the “Format
Data Series…” from the pop up menu.
• and then move the Gap Width slider to
the right toward the Large Gap. The
farther right you move it, the smaller
the column will appear. It can get very
small and will almost appear as a line.
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 14

15. Add Column Series – Step 6b
• On a line chart with very
few horizontal categories,
the column will not get
much thinner than this:
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 15

16. Add Column Series – Step 6c
• But when you more than
about 20 categories, the
column will get very very
thin and will appear as a
line. Compare these
vertical columns/lines with
the ones in the picture
above. You will see that
they are thinner than the
ones above, but the ones
above are very acceptable
to me.
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 16

17. Add Column Series – Step 7a
• Okay here is the final step
for the easy dynamic
vertical lines. Right click
on the Primary Vertical Axis
and then choose “Format
Axis…” from the Excel pop
up menu.
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 17

18. Add Column Series – Step 7b
• Then from the Format Axis
Dialog Box, you should
change the Axis Options
Maximum to 12 (equal to
the amount you have in
your vertical lines column.
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 18

19. Add Column Series – Step 8
• This will make the lines appear that they go
from the bottom of the vertical axis to the
very top. Here is your final chart.
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 19

20. Add Column Series – 2 Colors
• Here is the way to add one line for Tuesday and one line for Thursday.
• a) Add another column of data for each line. In the picture below, I
made the 2nd vertical line data set = 10 for each value so that you can
discern each line individually. If I set them both to 12, they would
overlap and you would not be able to tell them apart as easily. You can
all ready see that the 2 lines have different colors. Your data set and
new line chart will look like this:
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 20

21. Add Column Series – 2 Colors
• Then you will have to change each series chart type to Clustered
Column Chart and follow each step from C thru F. Also, you will want
to change the values for the Vertical Line 2 data series back to 12 so
that it will reach to the top of the chart. When doing so, your chart
will now look like this:
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 21

22. Vertical Lines – Way 3 of 3
• Add a Vertical Line using an XY Scatter Lines
• Okay, here is the 3rd way to add vertical lines to your Excel
Line Chart. There is a 4th way that I discovered, but it is a real
pain in the you know what. If you want to know more about
this 4th way, you can see this on this post: Company and
Industry P/E (Price to Earnings) Line Chart – 2 Ways
• The 3rd way is a little trickier to complete, but I am sure that if
you follow my steps that you too will be able to do it. This is a
great technique to master because it will allow you to add any
line to most 2D chart types.
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 22

23. Add XY Series – Step 1 & 2
• Create your Excel Line
Chart with the original
set of data that looked
like this:
• Now create 2 sets of data
anywhere in your Excel
Spreadsheet that looks
like this:
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 23

24. Add XY Series – Step 3a
• Now I recommend that
you highlight and COPY
the Tuesday data from
the upper right hand
corner down one cell to
the 12. Your range would
look like this:
• then Select your Chart
and select “Paste
Special” from the Home
Ribbon. You will then
see this Dialog Box:
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 24

25. Add XY Series – Step 3b
• Then click on OK and your chart will now look like this:
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 25

26. Add XY Series – Step 4
• Then click on OK and your chart will now look like this:
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 26

27. Add XY Series – Step 4
• Now you may say that this is NOT a vertical line. And you are
correct . However, here is how we start the transformation to an
XY Scatter Chart. First, Right Click on the Vertical Line Series. In
this case, the Red Data Series. Then from the Pop up menu, choose
“Change Series Chart Type…"”
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 27

28. Add XY Series – Step 5a
• and then change the chart type to an XY (Scatter) – Scatter with
Straight Lines:
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 28

29. Add XY Series – Step 5b
• Your resulting chart will now look like this. Doesn’t look any
better, but we are now very very close 
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 29

30. Add XY Series – Step 6a
• Now select your chart and then from the
Design Ribbon, choose the “Select Data”
button from the Data Group.
• and you will then see this dialog
box. You will then want to select
“Series2” from the Legend Entries
(Series) area. then click on “Edit”
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 30

31. Add XY Series – Step 6b
• Now when you click edit, you
will see the Edit Series Dialog
Box. Give your series a title, so
that you can easily recognize it
in the future. Then change the
Series X Values to the X’s for
Tuesday and change the Series
Y Values to the Y’s for Tuesday.
• And then press OK but don’t
close down the “Select Data
Source” dialog box as you need
it in the next step. Now looking
at the chart, you will see a
Vertical Red Line in your Excel
Line Chart.
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 31

32. Add XY Series – Step 7a
• Now we have only created one
line, so lets create the 2nd
line. To do this, you need to
ADD an new series in the Select
Data Source dialog box.
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 32

33. Add XY Series – Step 7b
• From the Edit Series dialog
box, add the Thursday vertical
line data by adding the X’s and
the Y’s like this:
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 33

34. Add XY Series – Step 7c
• then go ahead now and click on
the OK from the “Select Data
Source” dialog
box. IMPORTANT: if you click
“Cancel” at this step, you will
have to start over editing BOTH
XY data series as Excel will
think you want to start over
with the edit of all series for the
chart since you stated to edit
them.
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 34

35. Add XY Series – Step 7d
• Your chart will now look like
this:
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 35

36. Add XY Series – Step 8
• Click on the Horizontal Secondary Horizontal Axis and press the
delete key on your keyboard and then select the Secondary Vertical
Axis and press your delete key. And boom goes the dynamite and
you get this chart:
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 36

37. Add XY Series – Step 9a
• Okay here is the final step for the actual vertical lines. Right click
on the Primary Vertical Axis and then choose “Format Axis…” from
the Excel pop up menu.
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 37

38. Add XY Series – Step 9b
• Then from the Format Axis Dialog Box, you should change the Axis
Options Maximum to 12 (equal to the amount you have in your
vertical lines data.
7/30/2013 38Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart

39. Add XY Series – Final Chart
• This will make the lines appear that they go from the bottom of the
vertical axis to the very top. Here is your final chart:
7/30/2013 Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart 39

40. Video Tutorial
• Creating Simple Vertical Lines in
an Excel Line Chart
• Excel Dashboard Templates
7/30/2013 40Creating Simple Vertical Lines in an Excel Line Chart
Other Step-by-Step and Video
Demonstrations