How to Save Excel Chart as Image

Saving your Excel chart as an image is a fantastic way to share your data insights in presentations, reports, emails, or on a website. It turns your dynamic chart into a static, portable, and universally viewable file. This article will walk you through several easy methods for saving charts as images, from simple copy-and-paste to higher-quality options for professional use.

Why Save an Excel Chart as an Image?

Before jumping into the "how," let's quickly cover the "why." While a live chart inside an Excel workbook is great for interactive analysis, exporting it as an image has distinct advantages. You can easily embed it in a PowerPoint presentation, a Word document, a blog post, or an email without worrying about a recipient accidentally changing the data or needing Excel to view it. It provides a fixed "snapshot in time," which is perfect for weekly reports or formal presentations where the data needs to be locked.

There are a few popular image formats you’ll encounter, and choosing the right one can make a difference:

• PNG (Portable Network Graphics): This is usually the best choice for charts. It handles sharp lines, text, and solid colors perfectly, resulting in a crisp, clean image. It also supports transparent backgrounds, which is great for layering it on top of other content.
• JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group): This format is ideal for photographs but can sometimes make text and sharp lines look a bit fuzzy due to its compression method. Use JPEG if file size is your main concern, but PNG is generally superior for data visualizations.
• GIF (Graphics Interchange Format): An older format with a limited color palette. While it's known for simple animations, for static charts, PNG is almost always a better option.

Method 1: The Quick Copy-and-Paste

This is the fastest method and works perfectly when you just need to get a chart into another application like Word, PowerPoint, or an email quickly. It relies on your computer's clipboard and a simple image editor (even MS Paint will do the trick).

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Select the Chart: Open your Excel spreadsheet and click once on the chart you want to save. You'll know it's selected when you see a border appear around it.
2. Copy the Chart: Right-click on the chart border and select Copy from the menu. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+C (or Cmd+C on a Mac).
3. Open an Image Editor: Launch your favorite image editing program. This could be anything from MS Paint on Windows, Preview on Mac, to more advanced tools like Photoshop or GIMP. For this example, let's use MS Paint.
4. Paste the Chart: In the blank canvas of your image editor, paste the chart using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+V (or Cmd+V on a Mac). The chart will appear in the editor.
5. Save as an Image: Go to File > Save As. Here, you can give your file a name and choose the desired image format from the "Save as type" dropdown, such as PNG or JPEG. Click Save, and you're done!

Pro-Tip: If you are pasting into another Microsoft Office application like PowerPoint or Word, you’ll get “Paste Options.” You can choose to paste it as a Picture directly, which embeds it as a static image without needing to save it from a separate image editor first. This is a great shortcut to save time.

Method 2: Use "Save as Picture" (The Best Built-in Method)

For more control and higher quality without leaving Excel, the "Save as Picture" feature is your best friend. This is the most direct way to export a chart as an image file straight from your spreadsheet.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Select Your Chart: Just like before, click on the chart in your Excel workbook to select it.
2. Right-Click a Specific Spot: Move your cursor to the very edge or border of the chart. The key is to right-click on the outer boundary of the chart area, not in the middle of a bar or line.
3. Choose "Save as Picture": From the right-click context menu, select the Save as Picture... option.
4. Save Your Image: A file save dialog box will pop up. You can now navigate to the folder where you want to save the image, type in a file name, and select your desired format (PNG, JPEG, GIF, etc.) under "Save as type." Hit Save.

This method is clean, fast, and gives you direct access to different image file types, making it the recommended approach for most users.

Method 3: Capture with a Snipping Tool or Screenshot

Sometimes, the easiest way to grab a chart is to just take a picture of your screen. This is a universal method that works not only for Excel but for anything displayed on your monitor. Windows and macOS both have excellent built-in tools for this.

For Windows Users (Snip & Sketch):

1. Press the keyboard shortcut Windows Key + Shift + S. Your screen will dim.
2. Your cursor will turn into a crosshair. Click and drag a rectangle around the chart you want to capture.
3. When you release the mouse button, the captured image is copied to your clipboard, and a notification will pop up. Click on the notification to open the Snip & Sketch editor.
4. In the editor, click the floppy disk icon (Save) to save your screenshot as a PNG or JPEG file.

For Mac Users:

1. Press the keyboard shortcut Command + Shift + 4.
2. Your cursor will change to a set of crosshairs.
3. Click and drag to draw a box around the Excel chart.
4. Once you let go of the mouse button, the screenshot will be automatically saved as a PNG file on your desktop.

While extremely convenient, the main downside of this method is that the image quality is tied to your screen's resolution. For web use or informal reports, it's perfectly fine, but it might not be crisp enough for high-quality printing.

Getting a Higher-Resolution Image

Have you ever saved a chart and found it looked blurry or pixelated when you used it? Here’s how to ensure you get a high-quality, crisp-looking image every time.

Tip 1: Make the Chart Bigger Before Exporting

The resolution of the image you export is directly related to the size of the chart on your screen in Excel. If you export a tiny chart, you’ll get a tiny, low-resolution image. To get a higher-resolution output, simply resize the chart to be much larger on your worksheet before using any of the methods above. A larger starting chart produces a larger, more detailed final image.

Tip 2: Use the "Copy as Picture" Command

This lesser-known feature is a powerful way to get a high-quality copy of your chart. It's especially useful for creating a sharper image than a standard copy-paste.

1. Select the chart in Excel.
2. On the Home tab of the ribbon, find the Copy button.
3. Click the small dropdown arrow next to the Copy icon and choose Copy as Picture....
4. A small dialog box will appear. For the best quality, select As shown when printed under Appearance and Picture under Format. Click OK.
5. Your high-resolution chart is now on the clipboard. Paste it into an image editor, Word, or PowerPoint, and then save it from there. You’ll often find this produces a much sharper result.

How to Automate Chart Exporting with a VBA Macro

If you find yourself exporting the same chart over and over again for a weekly or monthly report, you can automate the process with a simple VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) macro. This may seem intimidating, but it's pretty straightforward for anyone looking to save time on repetitive tasks.

How to Use the Macro:

1. First, find the name of your chart. Click on the chart, and its name will appear in the Name Box (the small box located to the left of the formula bar, which usually shows the cell address like A1). By default, it will be something like "Chart 1".
2. Press Alt + F11 in Excel to open the VBA Editor.
3. In the editor, go to Insert > Module. This will open a new, blank code window.
4. Copy and paste the following code into the module window:

Sub ExportSelectedChartAsPNG()
    Dim MyChart   As ChartObject
    Dim SavePath  As String
    Dim FileName  As String

    ' --- CUSTOMIZE THESE VALUES ---
    ' Set the chart you want to export by its name
    ' Make sure "Chart 1" matches the name of your chart!
    Set MyChart = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects("Chart 1")
    
    ' Set the folder path where you want to save the image
    ' IMPORTANT: Make sure to include the final \ at the end!
    SavePath = "C:\Users\YourUsername\Desktop\"

    ' Set the name for your output image file
    FileName = "Monthly-Sales-Report.png"
    ' ---------------

    ' Check if the chart was found
    If MyChart Is Nothing Then
        MsgBox "Chart not found! Please check the chart name in the code."
        Exit Sub
    End If

    ' Export the chart to the designated path
    MyChart.Chart.Export Filename:=SavePath & FileName, FilterName:="PNG"
    
    ' Let the user know it's done
    MsgBox "Chart was successfully saved to: " & SavePath & FileName
End Sub

1. Customize the Code: You'll need to change three lines in the code to match your needs: update "Chart 1" to your chart’s actual name, and set the SavePath and FileName to where you want the image saved. The comments in the code will guide you.
2. Close the VBA Editor and return to Excel.
3. To run the macro, press Alt + F8, select ExportSelectedChartAsPNG from the list, and click Run. Your chart will be instantly saved to the location you specified.

This macro can be a massive timesaver, turning a multistep process into a single click.

Final Thoughts

Knowing how to export your Excel charts unlocks a ton of flexibility for sharing and reporting on your data. Whether you choose a simple copy-paste for speed, the "Save as Picture" function for control, or a VBA macro for automation, you now have a full toolset for getting your visualizations out of the spreadsheet and in front of the people who need to see them.

Creating and exporting visualizations manually works, but it can quickly become a weekly chore that consumes valuable time you could be spending on analysis and strategy. That's why we built Graphed. Instead of wrestling with spreadsheets, you can connect your data sources - like Google Analytics, Shopify, or Salesforce - and ask for the exact charts and dashboards you need using plain English. Graphed builds everything in seconds, giving you live dashboards that are always up-to-date, with no manual exporting required.