A histogram chart is often confused with a bar chart because it displays data using bars of different heights. The 'true' histogram chart shows the distribution of numerical data. Each bar of the histogram represents the count of data values within the specified range. See more about different types of histogram charts in Excel.

For certain chart types, you can add error bars to your chart. Error bars often are used to indicate "plus or minus" information that reflects uncertainty in the data.

This tip shows how to create a simple competition chart using a bar chart.

Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart that is often used in project management applications.

If you have a line chart with two different data series, you might want to compare those series at each point along the horizontal axis. There are two different options available in two locations, along with the Chart Design tab of the ribbon:

Candlestick chart is a style of bar-chart used primarily to describe price movements of a security, derivative, or currency over time. It is a combination of a line-chart and a bar-chart, in that each bar represents the range of price movement over a given time interval. It is most often used in technical analysis of equity and currency price patterns.

Candlestick chart is a style of bar-chart used primarily to describe price movements of a security, derivative, or currency over time. This chart type is often used in combination with the volume bars chart for technical analysis of stock and foreign exchange patterns.

Usually, horizontal lines are added to a chart to highlight a target, threshold, limits, base, average, or benchmark. These lines, for example, can help control if a process is behaving differently than usual. Excel allows you to add a vertical line to an existing chart in several different ways, e.g., by calculating line values for a scatter, line, or column chart, but using error bars is the easiest way to add a vertical line to a chart:

Vertical lines are usually added to the chart to highlight the current date, a critical date, or a deadline. There are many ways to add a vertical line to the existing chart. Errors bars are the easiest way to add a vertical line to a scatter plot. See how to add a vertical line to a line or bar chart or a horizontal line to a scatter plot, line, or column chart:

Sometimes you can give your charts a more impressive view by showing deviations of some real process from its expected flow.