How to Change Increments on Excel Graph

You’ve just plugged your data into Excel, created a chart, and... the axis is a complete mess. The numbers are awkwardly spaced, the labels are cluttered, and your beautiful data story is lost in a sea of unnecessary gridlines. This guide will show you how to take control of your chart’s axes by changing the increments, transforming that confusing visual into a clear, compelling report.

Why Bother Changing Your Graph's Increments?

Changing the increments (or "units") on a graph's axis isn't just about making it look pretty, it's about telling a clearer and more accurate story. Excel’s default settings aim for a one-size-fits-all approach, which often fails to highlight what's truly important in your data.

Here’s why you should take a few moments to customize them:

Improved Readability: A chart with gridlines at intervals of $1,378 is just noise. Changing that to a clean interval of $1,000 or $2,000 makes the trends instantly understandable for your audience.
Focusing on What Matters: Imagine your monthly sales data fluctuates between $52,000 and $59,000. If Excel sets the vertical axis to run from $0 to $70,000, those important weekly changes will look like a flat line. By adjusting the axis to start at $50,000 and end at $60,000, you "zoom in" on the variations that actually matter to your business.
Preventing Misinterpretation: Default settings can sometimes create a misleading visual. By setting logical and consistent increments, you ensure that your chart accurately represents the data and leads your audience to the correct conclusions.

Think of the axis as the frame for your data. A good frame enhances the picture, a bad one distracts from it. Let's learn how to build a better frame.

Your Control Center: The "Format Axis" Pane

Almost every modification you'll make to your graph’s increments happens in one place: the Format Axis pane. Getting there is simple.

Just right-click on the axis you want to change (either the vertical value axis or the horizontal category axis), and a menu will pop up. From there, select Format Axis…

This opens a panel on the right side of your screen. You might see a few different icons at the top (like a paint bucket or a pentagon), but the one you'll need most is the one that looks like a bar chart, typically titled Axis Options.

Now that you know where the control center is, let's put it to work.

How to Change Increments on the Vertical (Value) Axis

This is the most common adjustment you'll make. The vertical Y-axis almost always represents a numerical value (like sales, units, or website traffic), and its default settings often need a tune-up.

Let's use an example. Say you have a simple chart showing monthly revenue, which ranges from $28,000 to $43,000. Excel might set your axis to go from $0 to $50,000 with awkward intervals. Here’s how to fix it.

Step 1: Open the Format Axis PaneRight-click on the vertical (Y) axis numbers on your chart and select Format Axis. The options pane will appear on the right.

Step 2: Adjust the Bounds (Minimum and Maximum)In the Axis Options menu, the first section you'll see is Bounds. It has two primary boxes: Minimum and Maximum.

The Minimum is where your axis starts. Instead of the default 0.0, type in a value slightly below your data's lowest point. For our example, 25000 would be a good starting point.
The Maximum is where your axis ends. Type in a value slightly above your data's highest point. For our example, 45000 is a nice, round number.

After adjusting, hit Enter. You'll immediately see your chart "zoom in" on the relevant data range, making the monthly fluctuations much more visible.

Step 3: Set the Units (Major and Minor)Right below the Bounds section is the Units section. This is where you directly control the increments and their corresponding gridlines.

The Major unit controls the main interval displayed on your axis and where the primary gridlines appear. Excel's automatic setting might be something odd, like 5000.0. You can override this by typing in a cleaner number. For instance, setting the Major unit to 5000 would create gridlines at $25,000, $30,000, $35,000, and so on. This makes it far easier to read.
The Minor unit adds smaller tick marks between the major ones for more detail, a great tool for technical or scientific graphs. For most business reports, you can leave this alone.

By simply adjusting the Bounds and the Major unit, you’ve transformed a generic, hard-to-read chart into a focused and clear visualization.

How to Change Increments on the Horizontal (Category) Axis

Adjusting the horizontal (X) axis is a bit different, as it often deals with categories or dates rather than continuous numbers. The goal here is usually to reduce clutter.

When Your Axis Has Text Labels

Imagine you have a bar chart showing sales for 30 different products. Displaying all 30 product names along the bottom axis would make it unreadably cramped.

Here's how to display labels at different intervals:

Right-click the horizontal (X) axis labels and select Format Axis.
Go to the Axis Options tab.
Look for a section called Labels. Find the setting called Interval between labels.
It will be set to "Automatic." Change it to "Specify interval unit" and type in a number. If you enter 3, Excel will only display every third category label. If you enter 5, it will show the 1st, 6th, 11th, and so on.

This simple trick instantly declutters your axis while still giving viewers a frame of reference for the categories.

When Your Axis Has Dates

When you're working with time-series data, Excel is smart enough to recognize a date axis and give you special options.

Let's say you have a line chart of daily website traffic for an entire year. Excel's default might be to show a jumbled mess of dates along the bottom. Here's how to group them into months:

Right-click the horizontal date axis and select Format Axis.
Under Axis Options, you'll see that the Units section has changed. Instead of just a single box, you'll see fields for Days, Months, and Years.
To show monthly increments, find the Major units box. Enter 1 in the first box and change the unit in the dropdown menu next to it from "Days" to "Months".

Hit Enter, and a cluttered daily axis magically transforms into a clean monthly view. You can use the same logic to set increments by week (7 and "Days") or by year.

A Few More Tips for Clearer Graph Axes

Once you’ve mastered the increments, there are a few other quick fixes in the Format Axis pane that can level up your charts.

Number Formatting: Buried at the bottom of the Axis Options is a dropdown called Number. Here, you can quickly format your axis labels. Change the category to "Currency" to add a dollar sign, set it to "Percentage," or just reduce the number of decimal places to make things cleaner.
Tick Marks: Also under Axis Options is a section called Tick Marks. You can change the "Major type" from "None" to "Outside" or "Inside" to add small dashes or tick marks next to your axis labels, giving your chart a more polished, professional feel.
Logarithmic Scale: If you have data with a massive range - for example, one value is 1,000,000 and the rest are under 1,000 - a standard axis will make the smaller values invisible. By checking the Logarithmic scale box in Axis Options, you can display your data by orders of magnitude, making both huge and tiny values visible on the same chart. It's an advanced feature, but incredibly useful in the right situation.

Final Thoughts

Mastering your chart’s axes is the first step toward creating dashboards that communicate clearly and effectively. By adjusting the bounds and changing the major units, you move from just accepting Excel’s defaults to thoughtfully guiding your audience through your data. You’re no longer just showing numbers, you’re telling a focused story.

We know how much time can be spent wrestling with pivot tables and refining a chart’s visual design for that weekly or monthly report. Instead of getting lost inside the Format Axis pane for every report, we built Graphed to streamline the whole process. Just connect your data sources, describe the dashboard you want in plain English, and have a live, professional-looking report ready in seconds. It allows you to skip straight to the insights, not the setup.