A quick way to duplicate all of the custom chart formatting

Excel 2016 2013 2010 2007 2003
The creation of a large number of visually consistent charts to represent different data is a time consuming and error prone task unless you know how to copy formatting between charts.

You have several options:

  • Copy the formatting: Create a standard chart with the default formatting.

    Then select your original chart and on the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, choose Copy (or press Ctrl+C).

    Copy button in Excel 365

    Click your new chart and choose Paste Special on the Home tab, in the Clipboard group.

    Clipboard in Excel 365

    In the Paste Special dialog box, select Formats.

    Paste Special in Excel 365
  • Copy the chart: Hold down Ctrl while you click the original chart and drag.

    This creates an exact copy of your chart. Then on the Design tab, in the Data group, click the Select Data button:

    Select Data in Excel 365

    In the Select Data Source dialog box, specify the data for the new chart.

    Select Data Source in Excel 365

    You can choose the Select Data Source dialog box also from popup menu:

    Select Data in popup menu Excel 365
  • Create a template: Select your original chart; then choose Save as Template... in the popup menu:
    Type in Excel 365

    In the Save Chart Template dialog box, select the location and type the name of the new template:

    Template in Excel 365

    To create the chart from the template, on the Design tab, in the Type group, choose Change Chart Type (or select Change Chart Type in the popup menu).

    In the Change Chart Type dialog box, on the Templates tab, select the chart template that you want to use:

    Use chart template in Excel 365

See also this tip in French: Comment dupliquer tout le formatage de graphique personnalisé.

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