Formatting The Chart Vertical Axis

If you have plotted a graph and want to change the scale of the vertical axis to suit your needs, MS Excel allows you to customize the vertical axis.

By default, Microsoft Office Excel determines the minimum and maximum scale values of the vertical (value) axis. The y axis is usually the vertical axis and contains data. The x-axis is usually the horizontal axis and contains categories in a chart. You can, however, customize the scale to better meet your needs. When the values that are plotted in the chart cover a very large range, you can also change the vertical (value) axis to a logarithmic scale (also known as log scale). 

Applies To: MS Excel 2003, 2007 and 2010 

  1. Assuming that you have just plotted the graph below

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2.  To change the scale of the vertical axis to :

a.  Minimum value = 5000

b.  Maximum value = 55 000

c.  Major Unit = 5000

 3.  Right click on the vertical axis

4.  Select format axis

5.  Enter as per screen shot below

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6.  Select close

7.  The following chart will be displayed with customised vertical axis values

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