Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Adjusting Your View of 3-D Graphs.

Adjusting Your View of 3-D Graphs

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 15, 2026)

Excel allows you to create some great looking three-dimensional graphs based on the information in your worksheets. For many purposes, the default method in which the graphs are created will be sufficient for your needs. However, you may want to adjust the angle at which you view your graph. Excel makes this easy by following these steps:

  1. Create and display your 3-D graph as you normally would.
  2. Select the 3-D View option from the Chart menu. Excel displays the 3-D View dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

    3. Figure 1. The 3-D View dialog box.

  3. Using the appropriate boxes, specify an elevation, rotation, and perspective that are desired. You can also use the buttons to adjust the values in the boxes. As you make changes, Excel displays a frame outline of how a 3-D graph appears.
  4. When satisfied, click on OK. Your graph is updated with the adjusted view.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (1975) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Adjusting Your View of 3-D Graphs.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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