Microsoft Knowledge Base

WINDOWS      | MACINTOSH

• Microsoft Excel for Windows, version 5.0
• Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, version 5.0
• Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, version 7.0
• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel, if you add an axis label or data point to a chart by copying the cell that contains the chart axis label on a worksheet and pasting it to the chart, the data is added as an additional chart data series.

CAUSE

When you copy a cell on a worksheet and paste the data to a chart, the data is added either as a new point in the series or as a new data series. The results depend on the relative location of the cells you are adding to the cells the chart was created from. When you use the Paste method to add data to a chart sheet or to an activated chart object, the Paste Special dialog box is not displayed (which means that you cannot specify how you want the data to be added to the chart).

Microsoft Excel does not try to detect whether the data you copy to a chart is an axis label or a series point.

Note that if you drag information from a worksheet to an embedded chart object, the Paste Special dialog box appears and you can choose to add the data to the chart as a new data series or a new data point.

WORKAROUND

To add a specific cell of data to a chart as an axis label, do either of the following:

Chart Sheet

1. Select the cell that contains the data that you want to add as a new data point and select Copy from the Edit menu.

2. Select the tab for the chart that you want to add the data to, and choose Paste Special from the Edit menu.

3. The Paste Special dialog box appears. Under Add Cells As, select New Point(s). Under Values (Y) In, select Rows (or Columns). Clear the Category (X Labels) In First Row (or Column) option and choose OK.

4. Select the cell that contains the data that you want to add as a chart axis label and select Copy from the Edit menu.

5. Select the tab for the chart that you want to add the data to, and choose Paste Special from the Edit menu.

6. The Paste Special dialog box appears. Under Add Cells As, select New Point(s). Under Values (Y) In, select Rows (or Columns). Select the Category (X Labels) In First Row (or Column) option and choose OK.

Embedded Chart Object

1. Select the cell that contains the data that you want to add as a new data point. Position the mouse pointer in the upper-left corner of the selected cell, until the pointer changes to an arrow. Drag the cell to the embedded chart on the worksheet.

2. The Paste Special dialog box appears. Under Add Cells As, select New Point(s). Under Values (Y) In, select Rows (or Columns). Clear the Category (X Labels) In First Row (or Column) option and choose OK.

3. Select the cell that contains the data that you want to add as a chart axis label.

4. Position the mouse pointer in the upper-left corner of the selected cell, until the pointer changes to an arrow. Drag the cell to the embedded chart on the worksheet.

5. The Paste Special dialog box appears. Under Add Cells As, select New Point(s). Under Values (Y) In, select Rows (or Columns). Select the Category (X Labels) In First Row (or Column) option and choose OK.

MORE INFORMATION

Note that if you add an axis label and the first series together using the copy and paste method, the data is added to the chart correctly.

REFERENCES

For more information about adding data series or data points to a chart sheet, click the Search button in Help and type:

    charts, adding to