

If you are adding a benchmark line or target line, put your target values in the new column like shown in the screenshot below: If you wish to draw an average line, fill the newly added column with an Average formula discussed in the previous example.

Insert a new column beside your source data.The process may look a bit complicated on paper, but in your Excel, you will be done in a couple of minutes.
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In this case, please follow the below guidelines to add a line in your graph.
Microsoft excel for mac line graph how to#
How to add a line to an existing Excel graphĪdding a line to an existing graph requires a few more steps, therefore in many situations it would be much faster to create a new combo chart from scratch as explained above.īut if you've already invested quite a lot of time in designing you graph, you wouldn't want to do the same job twice. If none of the predefined combo charts suits your needs, select the Custom Combination type (the last template with the pen icon), and choose the desired type for each data series.Instead of a formula, enter your target values in the last column and insert the Clustered Column - Line combo chart as shown in this example. Adding a target line or benchmark line in your graph is even simpler.The same technique can be used to plot a median For this, use the MEDIAN function instead of AVERAGE.The steps are totally the same, you just choose the Line or Line with Markers type for the Actual data series: In a similar fashion, you can draw an average line in a line graph. Switch to the All Charts tab, select the Clustered Column - Line template, and click OK:ĭone! A horizontal line is plotted in the graph and you can now see what the average value looks like relative to your data set:.Go to the Insert tab > Charts group and click Recommended Charts.Select the source data, including the Average column (A1:C7).In our case, insert the below formula in C2 and copy it down the column: Calculate the average by using the AVERAGE function.To have it done, perform these 4 simple steps: This quick example will teach you how to add an average line to a column graph. How to draw an average line in Excel graph Extend the line to the edges of the graph area.Display the average / target value on the line.Plot a target line with different values.Microsoft Excel 2013, Excel 2016 and Excel 2019 provide a special Combo chart type, which makes the process so amazingly simple that you might wonder, "Wow, why hadn't they done it before?". In earlier Excel versions, combining two chart types in one was a tedious multi-step operation. The task can be performed by plotting two different types of data points in the same graph. In some situations, however, you may want to draw a horizontal line in another chart to compare the actual values with the target you wish to achieve. In the last week's tutorial, we were looking at how to make a line graph in Excel. This short tutorial will walk you through adding a line in Excel graph such as an average line, benchmark, trend line, etc.
