How to Copy a Chart in Excel to Another Sheet

Moving an Excel chart from one worksheet to another seems simple, but getting it done right often involves a few subtle choices that can seriously impact your report. This guide walks you through the different ways to copy and move charts in Excel. We’ll cover the classic copy-paste, how to create static image versions of your chart, and how to relink a copied chart to a completely new set of data.

The Easiest Method: Standard Copy and Paste

For most situations, a standard copy and paste is all you need. This technique creates a duplicate of your chart on a new sheet while keeping it connected to the original data source.

Here’s the simplest way to do it:

1. Click once on the border of the chart you want to copy. You’ll see the selection handles appear around its edges.

2. Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + C (on Windows) or Cmd + C (on Mac) to copy the chart.

3. Navigate to the destination worksheet where you want the chart to appear.

4. Click on a cell where you'd like the top-left corner of the chart to be placed.

5. Press Ctrl + V (on Windows) or Cmd + V (on Mac) to paste the chart.

The chart will now appear on the new sheet. The most important thing to understand is that this new chart is still dynamically linked to the data on the original sheet. If you change a number in the source data table, both the original chart and your newly pasted copy will update automatically. This is usually what you want, as it keeps your dashboards consistent.

Using the Right-Click Menu

If you prefer using your mouse, the right-click context menu works just as well:

• Right-click on the chart's border and select "Copy."

• Go to the new sheet, right-click on a cell, and select "Paste" from the context menu.

A Cleaner Approach: The 'Move Chart' Feature

Sometimes you don't need a copy, you just want to permanently move the original chart to a different location. Excel has a dedicated feature for this that is often overlooked.

Using "Move Chart" lets you relocate a chart either as an object in another existing worksheet or to its very own dedicated "Chart Sheet."

How to Use the 'Move Chart' Command:

1. Select the chart by clicking on its border.

2. Right-click the chart area and choose "Move Chart..." from the menu.

3. A dialog box will appear with two choices:

• New sheet: This option creates a brand new worksheet designed to hold only your chart. The chart will take up the entire sheet, which is great for presenting a single, focused visualization. You can give this new chart sheet a custom name.

• Object in: This option lets you move the chart to a different, existing worksheet. Use the dropdown menu to select the sheet you want to move it to.

After making your selection and clicking "OK," the chart will disappear from its original location and reappear in the new one. Just like with copy-paste, the chart remains fully linked to its original data source.

Copying a Chart as a Static Picture

What if you don’t want the chart to update automatically? You might need a static snapshot of your data for a presentation or a monthly report that shouldn’t change. In this case, you can paste the chart as a picture. A picture won't be linked to any data and can't be edited like a regular chart.

There are two primary ways to do this.

Method 1: Using the "Copy as Picture" Feature

This command gives you fine-tuned control over the image output.

1. Select the chart you want to copy.

2. On the Home tab of the Excel ribbon, click the small dropdown arrow next to the "Copy" button.

3. Select "Copy as Picture..."

4. A dialog box will appear, asking about Appearance and Format.

• For Appearance, "As shown on screen" is usually the best choice.

• For Format, "Picture" (Enhanced Metafile) typically provides a higher-quality image that scales well. "Bitmap" is a standard image format but may look pixelated if resized.

1. Click "OK." The chart is now copied to your clipboard as an image.

2. Go to the destination sheet and press Ctrl + V to paste the image.

This pasted object is a static picture. It looks exactly like your original chart at the moment you copied it, but it has no connection to the underlying data and its elements (like titles or labels) cannot be edited.

Method 2: Using the Paste Special Options

A slightly faster way to achieve a similar result is through the Paste Special menu.

1. Select your chart and copy it using Ctrl + C.

2. Go to your new location.

3. On the Home tab, click the dropdown arrow below the "Paste" button.

4. Under "Paste Options," you'll see several icons. Hover over them to see a preview. Choose one of the icons under "Paste as Picture" (e.g., Picture).

This quickly pastes your chart as a non-interactive image, perfect for creating static reports.

The Key to Formatting: Choosing Your Paste Option

When you copy and paste a chart normally (not as a picture), a small clipboard icon appears next to the pasted chart. Clicking this icon or pressing the Ctrl key reveals three crucial formatting options:

• Use Destination Theme Linked Data: This will make the chart adopt the color scheme and fonts (the "Theme") of the destination workbook. This is useful for ensuring all elements in your final report have a consistent design. The chart remains linked to its data.

• Keep Source Formatting & Linked Data: This is the default and most common option. The chart will look exactly as it did on the original sheet, retaining its original colors and fonts, regardless of the destination sheet's theme. The data link is also maintained.

• Picture: This is a shortcut to paste the chart as a static picture, breaking the data link as described in the previous section.

If your goal is to make the chart look identical to the original, always stick with "Keep Source Formatting."

Advanced Tip: Relinking a Copied Chart to New Data

Here’s a common and very powerful scenario: you've perfectly formatted a chart for January sales data, and now you need to create an identical chart for February data on a new sheet.

Instead of building the new chart from scratch, you can copy the first one and simply retarget its data source.

1. Copy the January sales chart and paste it into your "February" worksheet using the standard Ctrl + C / Ctrl + V. At this point, it is still linked to the January data.

2. Make sure you have your February sales data ready on the new sheet.

3. Click on the newly pasted chart to select it.

4. Go to the Chart Design tab that appears on the ribbon.

5. In the "Data" group, click on "Select Data."

6. The "Select Data Source" dialog box will open, showing the chart's current data range (which will be pointing to your 'January' sheet).

7. Delete the text in the "Chart data range" box.

8. With the dialog box still open, use your mouse to click and drag over the new data range on your "February" sheet, including the headers.

9. Click "OK."

Your chart will instantly update to reflect the February data while retaining all of your original formatting, colors, and styling. This technique is a massive time-saver when you need to create a series of consistent reports for different months, regions, or products.

Final Thoughts

Knowing how to effectively copy charts between Excel sheets is a fundamental skill for clean and efficient reporting. Whether you need a simple linked duplicate, a one-off static image for a presentation, or a templated chart that you can relink to new data, mastering these methods will save you considerable time and prevent common formatting issues.

While mastering these Excel techniques is valuable, it often involves a lot of manual repetition week after week. If you're tired of constantly copying, pasting, and manually updating charts, using a tool like Graphed helps automate this entire process. We allow you to connect your data sources just once and then use simple, natural language to build live dashboards that update in real-time. This lets you focus on the insights from your data, not on the busywork of building reports.