Start Axis at 0 in Excel Chart

Excel is great for presenting data visually. For this, it is very important to have a good knowledge of Charts and how to manipulate them.

In the example below, we will show how to resolve one common issue- start the axis in the Chart at 0.

Start Axis at 0

For the example we will use the data of sales persons and their sales results:

Table

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To create a simple Chart, we will select all the data that we have- range A1:B7 and then go to Insert >> Charts >> Recommended Charts:

Graphical user interface, application

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Once the new window opens up, we will choose the first option, which is Clustered Column:

Graphical user interface, application, Word

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When we click OK, we will have the same chart in our worksheet.

With our chart defined, we need to double-click on the numbers that are located on the left side of our chart:

Chart, bar chart

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When we do this, we will have a window for axis format on the right side:

Graphical user interface, application

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We need to click on the dropdown which says Axis Options:

Graphical user interface

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In the field Bounds, you will notice that the minimum bound is already set at 0, which is exactly what we want.

For every other axis, the process is the same. All we need to do is double-click on it and then define our bounds.

Tomasz Decker is an Excel specialist, skilled in data analysis and financial modeling.