Forum Discussion
How Do I Insert a Break in the Y Axis in Microsoft Excel?
Greetings, I have a data set that I am wanting to represent in Microsoft Excel in a column chart. There are two data series. One series has small numbers (1,1,1,1), and the other series has a ran...
Hi
I just want to provide a general answer as I do not see any sample data.
Plotting 2 data series on the same Vertical (value) axis, while one has large numbers and the second has small numbers may not allow you to view the small one (although it's there).
With the chart selected >> click on the Format or Layout Tab >> in the upper left corner there is a drop list for all chart elements >> select the small Data Series >> click on the format option just below the drop list >> a dialog box opens >> Select Secondary Axis
Then, right click on the new data series that popup in the chart and change the chart type to a line chart.
Hope that helps, I am trying to provide help blindly as I do not have Excel 2010, last time I used it was 6 years ago.
Good Luck
Nabil Mourad
Nabil,
Thanks for the response. The data that I am using (8 numbers total) is listed in my original post, and it is two groups of four numbers each that represent relative gene expression of specific genes in a control and treatment sample. I appreciate your information about the secondary axis, but unfortunately this would not be helpful in my case because one of the groups of number is (3, 5, 7, 400) and even if just that group had its own axis I would still have the same problem because 400 is so much larger than the other numbers. I also have access to other versions of Excel if need be. I am just wanting to know if it is possible to insert a break in the Y axis of a graph in Excel, and if so, how I would do that. Take care.
Steven
