How to Create a Grouped Bar Chart in Excel

A grouped bar chart is one of the most effective ways to compare different items across multiple categories at a glance. Instead of digging through rows of spreadsheet data, this chart type lets you visualize performance, spot trends, and communicate insights clearly. This guide will walk you through exactly how to prepare your data, create a grouped bar chart in Excel, and customize it to tell a compelling story.

What is a Grouped Bar Chart? And When Should You Use One?

A grouped bar chart (which Excel calls a "clustered bar chart") displays bars in clusters, making it easy to see how values for different sub-categories compare within a main category. Think of it as a standard bar chart that’s been given a side-by-side comparison superpower.

So, when is it the right choice? Grouped bar charts are perfect when you need to:

Compare Performance Across Time: You can track quarterly revenue for three different product lines. Each quarter is a main category, and the product lines are the sub-categories shown side-by-side.
Analyze Different Marketing Channels: See how your lead generation numbers from Organic Search, Paid Social, and Email Marketing stack up month-over-month.
Evaluate Sales Team Performance: Compare the number of deals closed by each sales rep over the last four weeks.

The key here is comparison. If you want to see how one thing stacks up against another for the same period or category, the grouped bar chart is your best friend. It helps you answer questions like, "Did Product A outsell Product B in Q3?" or "Which marketing channel brought in the most leads in May?"

Just be careful not to confuse it with a stacked bar chart. A stacked chart shows you the parts of a whole (e.g., how different channels contribute to total monthly leads), while a grouped chart puts those channels side-by-side for a more direct comparison.

Step-by-Step: Creating a Grouped Bar Chart in Excel

Creating the chart itself is quick. The most important step is setting up your data correctly beforehand. Let's walk through the entire process from data layout to creation.

Step 1: Structure Your Data Correctly

Clear data structure is the foundation of a good chart. For a grouped bar chart, you need a simple table where your main categories are in the first column and your sub-categories are the headers for the subsequent columns.

Imagine we're a SaaS company wanting to compare blog signups generated by three different content writers (Maria, Sam, and David) over the first four months of the year. Our data should be organized like this:

+--------+-------+-----+-------+ | Month | Maria | Sam | David | +--------+-------+-----+-------+ | January| 120 | 95 | 110 | | February| 150 | 115 | 130 | | March | 180 | 130 | 125 | | April | 165 | 145 | 155 | +--------+-------+-----+-------+

In this format:

The main category is Month (Jan, Feb, etc.).
The sub-categories we are comparing are the writers: Maria, Sam, and David. These will become the individual bars within each group.

Step 2: Select Your Data Range

Once your data is ready, click and drag your cursor to select the entire table, including the row and column headers (from "Month" down to David's final number).

Step 3: Insert the Chart

With your data still selected, follow these clicks:

Navigate to the Insert tab on Excel’s top ribbon.
In the Charts section, click on the icon that looks like a bar chart, labeled "Insert Column or Bar Chart."
A dropdown menu will appear. Under the 2-D Bar heading, choose the very first option: the Clustered Bar Chart.

Excel will instantly generate a basic grouped bar chart and place it on your worksheet.

Step 4: Switch Rows and Columns if Needed

Sometimes, Excel guesses wrong about how you want your data grouped. Your initial chart might group the data by writer instead of by month. If the months (January, February, etc.) are in the legend and the writers' names are on the vertical axis, you'll need to make a quick adjustment.

To fix this:

Click on the chart to select it.
This will bring up the Chart Design tab at the top of Excel.
In the Data group, simply click the Switch Row/Column button.

This will swap the axes and legend, grouping your bars by month as intended, with the writers' performance compared side-by-side within each month.

Customizing Your Chart for Readability and Impact

A basic chart gets the job done, but with a few simple tweaks, you can make your chart professional, clear, and easy for anyone to understand.

Add a Clear Chart Title and Axis Labels

Your chart needs context. Give it a descriptive title by clicking on the "Chart Title" placeholder and typing something meaningful, like "Monthly Blog Signups by Content Writer."

Next, label your axes. Click the chart, then click the ‘+’ icon that appears on the top right. Check the box for Axis Titles. The horizontal axis can be labeled "Number of Signups" and the vertical "Month." Clear labels remove all guesswork for your audience.

Adjust Colors and Style

Default colors can be boring. Make your chart visually appealing and easier to read:

For a quick design: In the Chart Design tab, you’ll find a gallery of different Chart Styles. Hover over them to see a preview and pick one you like.
For custom colors: Right-click on one of the bars in a data series (e.g., all of Maria’s blue bars). A menu will pop up. Select Format Data Series. A panel will open on the right. Under the bucket icon (Fill & Line), you can choose a new color from the Fill options. Repeat this for each writer to give them a distinct color that is easy to tell apart.

Add Data Labels for Precision

Sometimes, it's helpful for viewers to see the exact value of each bar without having to guess based on the axis. To add these, click the ‘+’ icon next to the chart and check the box for Data Labels. The corresponding value will now appear on or next to each bar.

Clean Up Your Chart Area

Minor details can make a big difference. Consider removing unnecessary clutter:

Gridlines: For a cleaner, minimalist look, click the ‘+’ icon and uncheck Gridlines.
Axis Scale: If your numbers are large, you may want to adjust the scale of your horizontal axis. Right-click on the horizontal axis labels (the numbers) and select Format Axis. From here, you can change the maximum bound or the major units to better fit your data.

Tips for Better Grouped Bar Charts

Don't Add Too Many Series: A grouped bar chart with two or three bars per group is easy to read. One with ten bars per group becomes a cluttered mess. If you have too many sub-categories to compare, consider breaking them into separate charts.
Order Your Data Logically: Your chart is already organized chronologically by month. If your categories don't have a natural order, consider sorting them by their total value (e.g., list writers from highest to lowest performer) to make insights more obvious.
Focus on a Single Message: Use color and titles to tell a story. If Maria's performance is the main talking point, you could use a high-contrast color for her bars and more muted colors for the others to draw the viewer’s eye.

Final Thoughts

Grouped bar charts are a fantastic tool for comparing performance across multiple categories in Excel. By organizing your data correctly and applying simple formatting tweaks, you can quickly build a clear visual that effectively communicates insights to anyone, from your team to your stakeholders.

Of course, the process of exporting data from various platforms, cleaning it, and manually building charts in Excel often becomes a repetitive weekly chore. We built Graphed because we believe getting answers from your data shouldn't take hours. Instead of wrangling CSVs, you simply connect your data sources (like Google Analytics, Shopify, or your CRM) and ask for what you need in plain English. Graphed automatically builds live, interactive dashboards, turning the manual reporting process into a 30-second conversation.