Which chart to choose

A table of numbers has to be read, while a picture shows the answer at once. But pictures differ: the same numbers can be drawn as columns, a line or a pie, and each one answers its own question. Try to match a picture to each of the three questions:

The type depends on the question

The chart type depends not on which numbers are in the table, but on which question the picture has to answer. In Excel, the three main types are called:

• Column compares amounts: the eye compares the heights of columns easily.
• Line shows how an amount changed. A line is drawn only when the values come in order, most often in time: days, months, years. Cities have no order, so you don't connect them with a line.
• Pie shows shares: the whole pie equals the total. It works when there are only a few slices, up to five or six. If there are more, the slices are hard to compare, and a column chart is better.

A chart on the sheet

Now let's create a chart ourselves, on the Insert tab. You don't need to select the table before inserting: Excel takes the whole table with its headers by itself. The first column becomes the labels, and the numbers set the heights of the columns:

If the type doesn't fit, you don't create the chart again: the Chart Design tab has a Change Chart Type button.

The "no need to select" rule has one exception: a Total row under the table. Excel takes it along with the cities and draws the total as one more column, several times taller than the rest. So in a table like that, select the rows without the total, together with the headers, and only then insert the chart.