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: Changing Chart Size.

Changing Chart Size

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 17, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

There are two types of charts that you can create in Excel—embedded charts and chart sheets. A chart sheet occupies an entire page. An embedded chart appears on the same page as your worksheet data.

If you are working with an embedded chart, you can change the size of the chart to any size you want. You cannot directly change the size of a chart sheet; it is set to be a single page. You can modify the printed size of a chart sheet, however. (This is covered in a different ExcelTip.)

You change the size of an embedded chart as you would any other graphical object in Excel:

  1. Click once on the chart. Handles appear around the chart border. As you move the mouse pointer over these handles, they change to sizing arrows.
  2. Click and hold the left mouse button and drag a sizing handle until the graphic is the size you want. The arrow heads on the mouse pointer indicate the direction which you can move the border.
  3. Release the mouse button. The chart is resized and reformatted.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2209) 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: Changing Chart Size.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Turning Off Automatic Bulleted Lists

As you are typing away on a document, you may notice that Word automatically formats bulleted lists (or what it thinks ...

Discover More

Splitting Text to Multiple Cells

When processing data, you may have a need to split a long text string into shorter chunks of text consisting of whole ...

Discover More

Identifying Duplicates

Do you need to flag duplicate values in your data? This tip shows three different ways you can do the flagging you need.

Discover More

Best-Selling VBA Tutorial for Beginners Take your Excel knowledge to the next level. With a little background in VBA programming, you can go well beyond basic spreadsheets and functions. Use macros to reduce errors, save time, and integrate with other Microsoft applications. Fully updated for the latest version of Office 365. Check out Microsoft 365 Excel VBA Programming For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Smoothing Out Data Series

One way you can make your charts look more understandable is by removing the "jaggies" that are inherent to line charts. ...

Discover More

Negatives in Pie Charts

Pie charts are a great way to graphically display some types of data. Displaying negative values is not so great in pie ...

Discover More

Unselecting a Chart Item

When formatting a chart, you select elements and then change the properties of those elements until everything looks just ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is nine minus 1?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.