Because a horizontal (category) axis displays text labels instead of numerical intervals, there are fewer scaling options that you can change than there are for a vertical (value) axis. You can, however, change how many categories you want to display between tick marks, in which order you want to display categories, and where the two axes cross.

  1. In a chart, click the horizontal (category) axis that you want to change, or do the following to select the axis from a list of chart elements:
    1. Click the chart.

      This displays the Chart Tools, adding the Design, Layout, and Format tabs.

    2. On the Format tab, in the Current Selection group, click the arrow next to the Chart Elements box, and then click Horizontal (Category) Axis.

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  2. On the Format tab, in the Current Selection group, click Format Selection.
  3. Click Axis Options if it's not selected, and then do one or more of the following:

    Important The following scaling options are only available when a horizontal (category) axis is selected. Axis Options provides different options for a vertical (value) axis.

    • To change the interval between tick marks, in the Interval between tick marks box, type the number that you want.

      Note The number that you type determines how many categories are displayed between the tick marks.

    • To change the interval between axis labels, under Interval between labels, click Specify interval unit, and then in the text box, type the number that you want.

      Tip Type 1 to display a label for every category, 2 to display a label for every other category, 3 to display a label for every third category, and so on.

    • To change the placement of axis labels, in the Label distance from axis box, type the number that you want.

      Tip Type a lower number to place the labels closer to the axis. Type a higher number if you want more distance between the label and the axis.

    • To reverse the order of categories, select the Categories in reverse order check box.
    • To change the axis type to a text or date axis, under Axis Type, click Text axis or Date axis, and then select the appropriate options. Text and data points are evenly spaced on a text axis. A date axis displays dates in chronological order at specific intervals or base units such as the number of days, months or years, even if the dates on the worksheet are not in order or in the same base units.

      Note Selected by default, Automatically select based on data determines the axis type that makes the most sense for your type of data.

    • To change the placement of the axis tick marks and labels, select the option that you want in the Major tick mark type, Minor tick mark type, and Axis labels boxes.
    • To change where you want the vertical (value) axis to cross the horizontal (category) axis, under Vertical axis crosses, click At category number, and then type the number that you want in the text box, or click At maximum category to specify that the vertical (value) axis cross the horizontal (category) axis after the last category on the x-axis.


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