📎 This article includes 1 downloadable practice file ↓
In this article
Most chart problems are decided before you click Insert: the wrong chart type hides the message. Start from the question the reader is asking.
| Question | Use | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Which is biggest? (comparison) | Bar (long labels) or column, sorted | Pie with many slices, 3D |
| How is it changing? (trend) | Line; column for a few periods | Pie, stacked area with many series |
| What is it made of? (composition) | 100% stacked bar; pie/donut only for 2-5 parts | Pie for 12 regions |
| Actual vs target | Columns + target line (combo), or bullet chart | Two separate charts |
| Are two things related? | Scatter | Line chart of unrelated series |
| How are values spread? | Histogram, box and whisker | Average alone |
Five rules that fix most charts
- Title states the point: “South grew fastest in Q3”, not “Sales by region”.
- Columns and bars start at zero.
- Sort bars by value unless the order means something (months, sizes).
- One highlight colour; everything else grey.
- Label directly and delete the legend when you can.
💡 If you need more than ten seconds to explain a chart, it’s the wrong chart or there’s too much on it. Split it.
Where people go wrong
| Mistake | Effect |
|---|---|
| 3D charts | Distort sizes |
| Truncated axis on columns | Small differences look huge |
| Rainbow colours | No focus |
Practice
Open the workbook and decide, for each question in the READ ME sheet, which chart you would use before building anything.
📎 Practice files for this article
- 📗Charts practice dataMonthly regional sales, target, online share and product data.⬇ XLSX · 7 KB
Free to use for learning. Files with macros (.bas) are plain text — import them with Alt+F11 → File → Import File, and always test on a copy.
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