ransi2o18 How toad a ine in Excel graph: average line, benchmark, ste. Ablebits.corm ome prooucts —Downtoans—pocs_supPoRT soc ABOUT US URCHASE How to add a line in Excel graph (average line, benchmark, baseline, etc) 1D by svetana cheushevs | updtes on October 2018 1 Comment ‘This short tutorial wil walk you through adding alin in Excel graph such as an average line, benchmark, trend tne, ete In the last weeks tutorial, we were looking at how to make a line raph in Excl. In some ‘stanaafuations, however, ou may want to draw a herizentl lie in another chart to compare the f 2 & we F o in 9 vy 3 ‘actual values withthe target you wish o achieve, ‘The task can be performed by plotting two different types of data points in the same graph. In earlier Excel versions, combining two chart types in one was a tedious mult-step operation, Microsoft Excel 2013 and Excel 2016 provide a special Combo char type, which makes the process 0 amazingly simple that you might wonder, "Wow, why hadn't they dane it before?” Draw an average ine in Excel graph ‘Add a tne to an existing Excel chart Plot a target ine with efferent values Howto customize the ine Display the average / target value on the ine Add a tex label forthe tine Change the line ype Extend the ine tothe edges of the graph area How to draw an average line in Excel graph ‘This quick example will each you how to add an average line ta a column graph, Ta have it done, perform these 4 simple steps 1, Calculate the average by using the AVERAG In our case, insert the below formula in C2 and copy it down the column: AVERAGE ($892: $887) co >| + [Ewveraceisaseses Month Actual “Average | 2ifan su0__ sua] 2 [Feb suo sama 4 Mar $125 128 5 [apr suo S124 6 May suo 128 7 bun sio0 Saat 2, Select the source data, including the Average colurnn (A:C7). Custom Seat Excel featured articles Merge multiple Excel sheets Into one Combine Excel files ino one Compare 2 Excel les/shoets Compare 2 columns in Excel for matches and differences Merge 2 columns in Excel CCONCATENATE in Excel: combine text strings, cells and columns Merge Excel rows without losing cata Create calendar in Excel (drop down and printable) Find duplicates in Excel Excel TRIM function - quick way toremove extra spaces Excel Vlookup: return multiple matches extract number from string in Exc Outlook: featured articles Create and use Outlook e-mail templates How to ad¢ BCC recipients in Outlook Merge duplicate contacts Sync Google Calendar with Outlook Excel forrnulas Excel functions ‘lookup in Excel Merge data in Excel sum Excel Countlf Excel Compare excel if statement 33% jltimate Suite 2018.5 for Excel hitps ww ablebits.comfoffice-adains-blog/2018/09/12/add:ine-excel-graphi ansrarse0%8 9, Gotothe nets > Chars group and le Recommends Chars. tart | Dew Patho Famile Os favo en é 7 | te Ot we im herman Vip Petit 3 ie Gann War 4, Switch tothe ll Chars tab, select the Clustered Column - Line template, and click Of: Inver Cro 7 x ta wees | MEE Wor tl pr lik Column S mow fe std Courtine || 0% oe Eu e res @ |e ea a ie we li Stock F @ surtece oe * ee ve Mer Mr he in @ Sunbus Shona ine digo iy deci | tit cocaine || | aa custenocounn [S] wp ite He i Joo 23 Donel A herizental ine is plotted inthe graph and you can now see what the average value looks like relative to your dataset: ‘Average Line s100 so @ a a a Ina similar fashion, you can draw an average ine na line graph. The steps are totally the same, you just choose the Line or Line with Markers type for the Actua data serles: How toad a ine in Excel graph: average line, benchmark, ste. Excel conditional formatting Excelformatting celtime bcelduotcates _fxcel date Excel tips Excel macro Outlook Google Sheets Out dupa Sign in Log in/Register 33% Jitimate Suite 2018.5 for Excel hitps ww ablebits.com/office-adains-blog/2018/09/12/add:ine-excel-graphiransi2o18 How toad a ine in Excel graph: average line, benchmark, ste. change chap 7 x aoe don a Custom Combination liad st = meet A Treemap Sam f @ Sunburst Choose the dhart type and avis for your date series: one | CE = ——— o] Gaus Br | ee im qo SS ce = a in 9 Tips: y ‘The same technique can be used to plot a median For this, use the MEDIAN function instead ‘Adding 2 target line or benchmark linen your graph is even simpler. Instead ofa formula, enter your target values in the last column and insert the Clustered Coluren- Line combo charcas shown in this example. Ifnone ofthe predefined combo charts suits your needs, select the Custom Combination type {the last template withthe pen icon), and choose the desired type for each data series. How to add a line to an existing Excel graph ‘Adding a line to an existing graph requires a few more steps, therefore in many situations it would be much faster to create a new combo chart from scratch as explained above, ut if youve already invested quite alot of tine in designing you graph, you wouldn't want to do ‘the same job twice, In this case, please follow the below guidelines to add line in your graph, The process may lock bit complicated on paper, butin your Excel, you willbe done in a couple of minutes. 1. Insert a new colurnn beside your source data. I you wish to draw an averagellne, flthe newly added column with an Average formula discussed inthe previous example. you are adding a benchmark line or target line, put your target values in the new column like shown, Inthe screenshot below: » |Month actual Target 2 ban gio 120, 3 feb so S120 4 Mar sus S120 3 apr suo 70 5 May suo 120, 7 bun sico S120 hitps ww ablebits.com/office-adains-blog/2018/09/12/add:ine-excel-graphi Jhtimate Suite 2018.5 for Excel ana