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: Creating Charts in VBA.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 25, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
Excel is very handy at creating charts from data in a worksheet. What if you want to create a chart directly from VBA, without using any data in a worksheet? You can do this by "fooling" Excel into thinking it is working with information from a worksheet, and then providing your own. The following macro illustrates this concept:
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:
Sub MakeChart()
'Add a new chart
Charts.Add
'Set the dummy data range for the chart
ActiveChart.SetSourceData Sheets("Sheet1").Range("a1:d4"), _
PlotBy:=xlColumns
'Manually set the values for the data series
ActiveChart.SeriesCollection(1).Formula = _
"=SERIES(""First Data"",{""a"",""b"",""c"",""d""},{2,3,4,5},1)"
ActiveChart.SeriesCollection(2).Formula = _
"=SERIES(""Second Data"",{""a"",""b"",""c"",""d""},{6,7,8,9},2)"
ActiveChart.SeriesCollection(3).Formula = _
"=SERIES(""Third Data"",{""a"",""b"",""c"",""d""},{10,11,12,13},3)"
End Sub
The comments in this example explain what is going on for each step. When setting the dummy data range, the SetSourceData method assumes the range is on a worksheet named Sheet1. If you don't have such a sheet in your workbook, you need to alter the command accordingly.
Later, when manually setting the values for the data series, the SERIES command is used to specify the label for the series (First Data, Second Data, and Third Data), the array of category labels (a, b, c, and d in all series), the array of values for the series, and a number specifying which series number this represents.
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2622) 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: Creating Charts in VBA.
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