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How to create a bi-directional bar chart in Excel?

Author Sun Last modified

Supposing you have two sets of data as the below screenshot shown and want to visually compare them in a chart, in this case, a bi-directional bar chart can do you a favor. A bi-directional bar chart is used for comparing two sets of data side by side along a vertical axis. This tutorial demonstrates two methods to help creating a bi-directional bar chart in Excel. 

create a bi-directional bar chart

Create a bi-directional bar chart in Excel (multi-steps)
Easily create a bi-directional bar chart in Excel (several clicks)

Create a bi-directional bar chart

By default, Excel does not provide a direct build-in function to create a bi-directional bar chart. You need to apply different formattings to a clustered bar chart until it turns to a bi-directional bar chart. So the steps are fussy and not easy to handle, please follow the below steps.

1. Select the whole data range you will create a bi-directional bar chart based on, and then click Insert > Insert Column or Bar Chart > Clustered Bar.

click Insert > Insert Column or Bar Chart > Clustered Bar

2. Then a clustered bar chart is inserted into the worksheet. Right click any one of the bars and select Format Data Series from the right-clicking menu. See screenshot:

Right click any one of the bars and select Format Data Series

3. In the Format Data Series pane, choose the Secondary Axis option under the Series Options tab.

choose the Secondary Axis in the pane

Now you can see a secondary axis is added on the chart as the below screenshot shown.

a secondary axis is added on the chart

4. Select and right click this secondary axis, and then choose Format Axis from the context menu.

right click the secondary axis, and choose Format Axis

5. In the Format Axis pane, you need to configure as follows.

5.1) In the Minimum box, specify a value which is opposite to the maximum value.
Tips: As the Maximum here is 7000, the minimum should be -7000.
5.2) Check the Values in reverse order box. See screenshot:

specify the options in the Format Axis pane

Now the chart is shown as follows.

the chart is changed

6. Select and right click the X-axis, and then select Format Axis from the right-clicking menu.

right click the X-axis, and select Format Axis

7. In the Format Axis pane, change the Minnimum and Maximum to the same minimum and maximum values we specified for the secondary axis in step 5.

change the Minnimum and Maximum values in the pane

Now a bi-directional bar chart is clear as the below screenshot shown.

a bi-directional bar chart is created

8. As the Y-axis is displayed almost in the middle of the chart, we need to move it to the left side of the chart. Just click to select the Y-axis, go to the Format Axis pane, and then choose Low from the Label Position drop-down list in the Labels section. See screenshot:

set the Y-axis to left of the chart

9. Now you need to widen the bars. Select one of the series in the chart, go to the Format Data Series pane, and then change the percentage in the Gap Width box.
Repeat the steps to widen the bars on the other side.

widen the bars

Then you can see the chart is displayed as follows.

the bars are widen in the chart

10. Add data labels to the bars. Select one of the series in the chart, and then click the Chart Elements > Data Labels > Inside End. See screenshot:
Repeat the steps to add data labels to the series on the other side.

Add data labels to the bars

Remove or change the chart title as you need. Then a bi-directional bar chart is complete as the below screenshot shown.

Remove or change the chart title

Easily create a bi-directional bar chart in Excel with an amazing tool

If the above method is too fuzzy and time-consuming for you to handle, here highly recommended the Bidirectional Bar Chart utility of Kutools for Excel for you. With this utility, you can easily create a bi-directional bar chart in Excel with several clicks only.

Kutools for Excel offers over 300 advanced features to streamline complex tasks, boosting creativity and efficiency. Itegarate with AI capabilities, Kutools automates tasks with precision, making data management effortless. Detailed information of Kutools for Excel...         Free trial...

1. Click Kutools > Charts > Category Comparison > BiDirectional Bar Chart.

click BiDirectional Bar Chart feature of kutools

2. In the popping up Bidirectional Bar Chart dialog box, please specify different ranges in corresponding boxes and finally click the OK button.
Tips: You can select the whole data range firstly and then apply this feature, then ranges will be recognized and displayed in corresponding boxes automatically.

specify the cell references in the dialog box

Then a bi-directional bar chart is complete as the below screenshot shown.

a bi-directional bar chart is created

  If you want to have a free trial (30-day) of this utility, please click to download it, and then go to apply the operation according above steps.

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