How to put the legends next to the line for the line chart in Excel?
Normally, when we create a line chart, the legends are placed at the bottom of the chart by default. But, sometimes, for making the data easier identification in the chart, we want the legends to appear in the chart where the line ends as below screenshot shown. This article will talk about how to solve this task in Excel. Video
Put the legends next to the line for the line chart
1. First, you should insert a helper column at the end of the data, then enter the formula: =F2, =F3 into cell G2 and G3 separately, see screenshot:
2. Select the first number cell in the helper column and press Ctrl + 1 keys together to open the Format Cells dialog box:
- Click the Number tab, and then select Custom from left pane;
- Then, type “Actual” which will be displayed as the legend into the Type textbox;
- Click OK button to close the dialog box.
3. Repeat the above step for the second cell of the helper column, please enter “Target” into the Type textbox as below screenshot shown:
4. After formatting the helper number cells, now, select the data range including the helper column that you want to create chart based on, and then, click Insert > Insert Line or Area Chart > Line, see screenshot:
5. And a line chart will be inserted into the sheet with the legends at the bottom of the chart as below screenshot shown:
6. Then, you can delete the bottom legends and modify the chart title to your need. And then, click to select the chart, click Chart Elements icon, check Data Labels from the expanded pane, and the data labels will be displayed in the chart, see screenshot:
7. Next, to make the data labels easier to read, you can put the data labels below the second line. Click to select the below data labels, and then, click Chart Elements icon, click Data Labels > Below to complete this step, see screenshot:
8. Make the line of the last point thinner to distinguish it from the normal line. Click the last data point line twice to select it, and right click, then, choose Outline > Weight, and choose one thinner line than the normal line as you need, see screenshot:
9. Finally, you will get the line chart with the legends at the end of the lines as you need, see screenshot:
Put the legends next to the line for the line chart
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