How to Create a Clustered Column Chart in Excel

Comparing different sets of data side-by-side doesn't have to be a complicated task. With a clustered column chart in Excel, you can quickly turn rows of numbers into a clear, comparative story. This tutorial will walk you through exactly how to create and customize a clustered column chart, including best practices for making your data easy to understand.

What is a Clustered Column Chart?

A clustered column chart is a type of chart that displays more than one data series using vertical columns that are grouped, or "clustered," by category. It's one of the most effective ways to show direct comparisons between different items over the same periods or across the same categories.

Think about comparing quarterly sales for three different products. A clustered column chart will show you a group of three columns for "Q1," another group for "Q2," and so on. Within each group, you can instantly see which product was the top performer for that specific quarter.

When to Use a Clustered Column Chart

While versatile, this chart type really shines in specific scenarios. You should use a clustered column chart when:

• You need to compare multiple data series. If you're only looking at one data series (e.g., total company revenue per month), a standard column chart will do. The "clustered" part is specifically for showing two or more series together.

• The categories are clear and distinct. It works best for comparing categories like months, quarters, geographic regions, or different marketing channels.

• The order of categories doesn't matter. While you can arrange them chronologically (like months), a clustered column chart is fundamentally a categorical comparison tool, unlike a line chart which is designed to show trends over continuous time.

Relatable Examples:

• A marketing manager comparing the number of leads generated from Google Ads vs. Facebook Ads vs. LinkedIn Ads for the last four months.

• A retail owner comparing sales of 'T-Shirts', 'Hoodies', and 'Hats' across different store locations.

• A project manager tracking the number of tasks completed versus tasks planned for different teams.

How to Create a Clustered Column Chart in Excel: A Step-by-Step Guide

Creating a chart sounds technical, but Excel makes the process straightforward. Here's how to create one from scratch, starting with your data.

Step 1: Organize Your Data Correctly

The success of your chart depends entirely on how you structure your data first. A clustered column chart needs a simple table format to work properly.

Arrange your data with your categories in the first column or the first row. Excel is smart enough to interpret it either way, but for this example, let's put our categories (Quarters) in the first column and our data series (the marketing channels) across the top row as headers.

Here’s a sample dataset for a marketing report comparing quarterly website traffic from different sources:

This layout is perfect. It's clean, easy to read, and exactly what Excel needs to build the chart.

Step 2: Select Your Data Range

Click on the top-left cell of your data set (in our example, the cell with "Source") and drag your mouse to the bottom-right cell (the cell with Q4's email traffic). Make sure you include the row and column headers in your selection, as Excel will use them to automatically create the legend and axis labels.

Step 3: Insert the Chart

With your data selected, navigate to the Insert tab on Excel’s top ribbon. In the Charts section, look for the icon that looks like a small bar chart. This is the Insert Column or Bar Chart menu.

Click on this icon. A dropdown menu will appear with several chart options organized under 2-D Column, 3-D Column, 2-D Bar, and 3-D Bar.

Step 4: Choose the "Clustered Column" Type

In the 2-D Column section, the very first option is the Clustered Column chart. Hover over it to see a preview of what your chart will look like with your selected data.

Click it, and Excel will immediately generate and place the chart onto your worksheet. A basic but complete clustered column chart, based on your data, will now be visible.

Pro Tip: Use the "Switch Row/Column" Button to Change Focus

Once your chart is created, you might notice Excel has grouped the data in a way you didn't intend. In our example, did Excel lump all the "Organic" data together, or did it cluster data by "Q1," "Q2," etc.?

Excel makes a guess, but you have the final say. With your chart selected, two new tabs will appear on the ribbon: Chart Design and Format. Click on the Chart Design tab.

Look for a button called Switch Row/Column. Clicking this will instantly reorganize your chart.

• One view groups the data by traffic source, showing how each source performed across the four quarters.

• The other view groups the data by quarter, showing which sources performed best within each specific quarter.

This single click lets you change the narrative of your chart, allowing you to highlight different aspects of your data without making a new chart. It’s an incredibly powerful feature for analysis.

Customizing Your Chart to Make It Clear and Professional

Excel’s default chart gets the job done, but a few simple customizations can turn it from a functional graphic into a compelling piece of analysis.

Refine Your Chart Title

Never leave the default "Chart Title." Double-click on it and give it a descriptive title that tells your audience exactly what they are looking at. Instead of "Traffic," a better title would be "Quarterly Website Traffic by Source." It's specific and immediately provides context.

Add Axis Titles for Clarity

A chart without labeled axes is confusing. To add them:

1. Click anywhere on your chart to select it.

2. Go to the Chart Design tab.

3. On the far left, click Add Chart Element.

4. Hover over Axis Titles and add both a "Primary Horizontal" and "Primary Vertical" title.

5. Just like the chart title, click on the new text boxes to edit them. Your horizontal axis could be "Quarter" and your vertical axis "Website Sessions."

Use Data Labels Sparingly

Data labels display the exact value on top of each column. They can be useful, but adding them to every column can create visual clutter. A better approach is to add them selectively to highlight specific data points - for example, only to the highest-performing series.

To add them, go to Add Chart Element > Data Labels. You can choose where to position them (center, inside end, outside end, etc.). For a less cluttered look, you can also right-click on a single column (not the whole series) and select "Add Data Label" to label just that one point.

Adjust the Style and Colors

In the Chart Design tab, you’ll find galleries of pre-made chart styles and color schemes. These are a great starting point for giving your chart a more polished look in seconds. For ultimate control, right-click on any column and use the "Fill" option from the mini-toolbar to change its color manually. Using your brand's colors is always a pro move for reports and presentations.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Making Clustered Column Charts

Creating the chart is only half the battle. Presenting it effectively requires avoiding a few common pitfalls.

• Cluttering the Chart with Too Many Series: A clustered column chart works best with 2-4 data series per category. Once you get to five or more, the clusters become crowded and difficult to read. If you have a lot of series, consider filtering your data or choosing another chart type like a stacked area chart.

• Long Category Labels: If your category names are long and get truncated on the horizontal axis, use a clustered bar chart instead. It's the same concept, just with horizontal bars, giving more space for text labels.

• Using Misleading Colors: Choose colors that are easy to distinguish. Avoid using colors that are too similar, and be mindful of colorblindness. High-contrast palettes are always the safest bet.

• Forgetting the Zero Baseline: By default, Excel's column charts start the vertical axis at zero, which is critical for accurate comparisons. Intentionally changing this to make small differences look more dramatic is misleading and a poor data visualization practice. Always let the data speak for itself from an honest baseline.

Final Thoughts

Clustered column charts in Excel are a fantastic tool for comparing different data sets across a set of categories, and as you've seen, they aren't difficult to create. By structuring your data properly and making a few thoughtful customizations, you can quickly build charts that tell a clear and persuasive story.

The manual process of exporting data from different platforms, cleaning it up in a spreadsheet, and painstakingly building charts is still a weekly ritual for many teams. While it works, it’s a time sink that keeps you busy with reporting instead of analysis. This is why we built Graphed to help. By connecting directly to your tools like Google Analytics, Shopify, and Facebook Ads, we let you bring all your live data into one place. From there, you can use plain English to ask questions and instantly generate real-time dashboards and charts like these, saving you countless hours spent on an otherwise manual process. Explore how Graphed turns complex data into simple, actionable insights.