This feature quickly analyzes your data and show you a few options. In Excel 2013 and higher versions (Excel 2016, 2019 and Office 365), there is a quick way to create charts using the recommended charts feature. In this section, I will show you the steps to add a secondary axis in different versions. Adding Secondary Axis to Excel ChartsĪdding a secondary axis is very simple in all the versions of Excel (more so in the latest ones). This combination chart now allows you to see the variation in both series of data – Sales and profit margin values. The lowest value is 0% and the highest is 4% (which is determined by the profit margin percentage values in your dataset). So, we add a secondary axis to the mix and make the chart better (as shown below).Ī secondary axis has been added to the right which has different scales. Solution – adding a secondary axis to plot the profit margin numbers.

While Sales numbers are likely to be high, profit margins are usually very low values.Īnd these two can’t be plotted on the same axis. When you plot all the data on the same axis, you lose the ability to compare data of different scales. I am sure you can’t tell by looking at the chart.īut if you look at the numbers, the profit soared by 125% in 2019.Īnd that’s the issue with this Excel chart. What if I ask you to tell me how much change happened in profit margin in 2019 (compared with 2018). The blue bars represent the sales value and the red ones (the little bars next to the blue sales bars) represents the profit margin. Suppose you have the following data set of Sales and Profit margin of a company for six years.īelow is the chart that I have created using this data. Let me try and explain this by using an example. Why Add a Secondary Axis in Excel Charts?

Adding the Secondary Axis Manually (Excel 2010).

Adding the Secondary Axis Manually (2013 and above versions).

Why Add a Secondary Axis in Excel Charts?.

Excel 2016 chart axis labels