Displaying conditional colors in a column chart

Excel 365 2013 2010
To emphasize differences between data in the chart it will be interesting to create a column chart in which the color of each column depends on the value displayed.

For example, you want to demonstrate the differences in sales during 2012 - 2015:

Colored column chart in Excel 2016

To create the chart like this one, do the following:

   1.   Split your data to the different columns:

  • Column I = IF (cell<7%, cell, ""),
  • Column II = IF (AND (cell>=7%, cell<15%, cell, ""),
  • Column III = IF (cell>15%, cell, ""),

For example (here cell = D*):

Colored column chart in Excel 2016

   2.   Select the data cells.

   3.   On the Insert tab, in the Charts group, choose the Column button:

Column Charts in Excel 2016

Choose the Clustered Column Clustered Column Charts in Excel 2016 chart.

Change Data Source if necessary:

Column colored chart in Excel 2016

   4.   Open Format Axis on the Format task pane, in which:

  • In the Labels group, in the Label Position list, choose Low:
    Axis options in Excel 2016
  • In the Number group, choose the format you prefer:
    Add Format Code in Excel 2016

You can then make any other adjustments to get the look you need.

See also this tip in French: Affichage des couleurs conditionnelles dans un graphique à colonnes.

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