How to Change Data Series in Excel Chart

Need to update the data in your Excel chart without starting over from scratch? It happens all the time - new sales data comes in, you want to add another campaign for comparison, or you need to remove an outdated metric. This guide will walk you through several straightforward methods for changing, adding, and removing data series in your Excel charts, making your reports flexible and easy to update.

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What Exactly is a Data Series in Excel?

Before we jump into the "how," let's quickly clarify what we're talking about. A data series is simply a set of related data points that you plot in a chart. Think of it as one row or one column of numbers in your spreadsheet that you want to visualize together.

• In a line chart, each line is a distinct data series (e.g., one line for 2023 sales, another for 2024 sales).
• In a bar or column chart, all bars of the same color represent one data series (e.g., blue bars for Quarter 1 revenue across different products).
• In a pie chart, the entire pie is a single data series, and each slice represents a data point within that series.

Understanding this concept is the first step to confidently managing your charts. Whenever you want to add, remove, or modify a line, a set of bars, or the source data for your visual, you're looking to change its data series.

Method 1: The Easiest Fix (Drag-and-Drop Resizing)

For quick additions or subtractions of adjacent data, Excel's drag-and-drop feature is incredibly fast. It's perfect when your new data is right next to your chart's current source data.

Here’s how it works:

1. Click on your chart one time. You should now see an outline around the data in your spreadsheet that's powering the chart. Each data series and the axis labels will have their own colored border.
2. Move your cursor to the corner of one of these colored outlines. Your cursor will change into a double-sided diagonal arrow.
3. Click and drag the outline to expand or shrink it. To include more data, drag it outwards to cover the new rows or columns. To remove data, drag it inwards.

As you drag, the chart will update in real-time, giving you an immediate preview of the changes. Release the mouse button once the outline covers the exact data range you need.

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When to Use This Method:

This method is fantastic for adding a new month of data to the end of a time series or including one more product in a comparison chart. Its main limitation is that it only works well for data that's in a contiguous block. If you need to add a non-adjacent column or skip over certain data, you'll need a more precise tool.

Method 2: The Most Flexible Method (Using the 'Select Data' Dialog Box)

When you need more control, the Select Data Source dialog box is your best friend. This is the central hub for managing all the data in your chart. It lets you add, remove, and edit any data series you want, regardless of where the data is located in your worksheet.

How to Open the 'Select Data Source' Window

You have two simple ways to get there:

• Right-Click Method: Right-click anywhere on your chart and select "Select Data..." from the context menu.
• Ribbon Method: Click on your chart to activate the "Chart Design" tab in the ribbon. Then, in the "Data" group, click "Select Data."

Either method will open up the Select Data Source window. Let's break down what you see.

The window is divided into two main sections:

• Legend Entries (Series): On the left, this list shows every data series currently in your chart. This is where you will add, edit, or remove them.
• Horizontal (Category) Axis Labels: On the right, this section controls the labels that appear on your horizontal (X-axis). For example, months, product names, or sales regions.

How to Add a New Data Series

Let's say you have a chart showing 2023 sales and you want to add a new series for 2024 sales.

1. With the Select Data Source window open, click the "Add" button under the Legend Entries (Series) section.
2. The "Edit Series" dialog box will pop up. It has two fields you need to fill out:

• Series name: Click the small icon on the right of the input box (or just click inside the box). Now, click on the single cell in your spreadsheet that contains the name of your new series (e.g., the header cell labeled "2024 Sales"). You could also just type the name directly, but linking to a cell is better practice.
• Series values: This is where you specify the actual numbers. The box may contain something like ={1} by default. It's best to delete this. Then, click and drag to select the range of cells containing your new data (e.g., the sales figures for each month of 2024).

1. Click OK. You'll see your new series added to the list in the Select Data Source window. Click OK again, and your chart will instantly update with the new data.

How to Edit an Existing Data Series

What if your data range was wrong or you extended it? For example, you originally charted Q1 and Q2 data, but now you have data for Q3 and Q4 and need to expand the series.

1. In the Select Data Source window, find and click on the series you want to change in the Legend Entries (Series) list.
2. Click the "Edit" button.
3. The same "Edit Series" dialog box will appear again. Now you can change either the Series name or the Series values by re-selecting the correct cells in your worksheet.
4. To extend your data range, simply delete the old Series values and select the new, larger range.
5. Click OK twice to close the windows and update your chart.

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How to Remove a Data Series

This is the easiest task of all. If you want to remove a line from your line chart or a set of columns from your column chart, just follow these steps:

1. Open the Select Data Source window.
2. In the Legend Entries (Series) list, select the data series you want to delete.
3. Click the "Remove" button. The series will immediately disappear from the list.
4. Click OK, and it will be gone from your chart. Don't worry, this only removes it from the chart, your data in the spreadsheet is completely safe.

Method 3: A Quick Way to Hide Data (Using Chart Filters)

Sometimes you don't want to permanently remove a data series, but just temporarily hide it for a presentation or to make the chart easier to read. The Chart Filters feature is perfect for this.

When you select your chart in a modern version of Excel, you'll see three small icons appear on its right-hand side. The middle one, shaped like a funnel, is Chart Filters.

1. Click your chart to select it.
2. Click the Chart Filters (funnel) icon.
3. A pane will appear showing all the Series and Categories in your chart, each with a checkbox.
4. Simply uncheck the box next to any series or category you want to hide temporarily.
5. Click the "Apply" button at the bottom of the pane, and your chart will update.

The beauty of this method is its non-destructive nature. The data is still linked to the chart, and you can bring it back anytime by just re-checking the box and clicking "Apply."

Advanced Tip: Creating Dynamic Charts with Named Ranges

If you're creating a report that you update frequently, continually editing the data source can become a chore. A more advanced but powerful solution is to use Named Ranges.

A Named Range allows you to give a human-friendly name (e.g., Monthly_Revenue) to a specific data range (e.g., Sheet1!$B$2:$B$13). Once you base your chart on the named range instead of the fixed cell reference, you can update the chart by simply changing what the name refers to - without ever needing to open the chart formatting tools.

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How to Set it Up:

1. Select the data range you want to name.
2. Go to the "Formulas" tab in the ribbon and click "Define Name."
3. In the "New Name" dialog box, give your range a descriptive name (no spaces allowed, use underscores instead) and click OK.
4. Now, open the Select Data Source window for your chart and edit a data series.
5. In the Series values field, instead of a cell reference like Sheet1!$B$2:$B$13, type =YourSheetName!YourNamedRange. For example: =SalesData!Monthly_Revenue.
6. Click OK.

Now your chart is pointing to the name, not the cells. The next time you need to update the data range, you can just go to the "Name Manager" (on the Formulas tab) and edit what Monthly_Revenue refers to. The chart will automatically pull from the new source. This is a game-changer for recurring reports and dashboards.

Final Thoughts

Mastering how to change a data series is a fundamental Excel skill that transforms your charts from static images into flexible, dynamic visuals. Whether you're making a quick drag-and-drop edit, using the powerful Select Data Source window, or temporarily hiding data with chart filters, you now have the tools to keep your reports relevant and accurate with minimal fuss.

While Excel is powerful, managing charts across multiple data sources for your recurring marketing or sales reports often means hours of downloading CSVs and manually adjusting these data series every single week. This is exactly why we built Graphed. We connect directly to your data sources - like Google Analytics, Shopify, Facebook Ads, and Salesforce - to build live dashboards that update automatically. Instead of adjusting cell ranges, you can just ask in plain English, "show me my revenue by campaign for this quarter," and get an instantly shareable, always-current chart without touching a spreadsheet.