Y-Axis Chart Titles are Truncated

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 17, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Hao is running into a problem where his Y-axis titles are having the last 4 or 5 characters truncated, seemingly without rhyme or reason. In his case, the problem seems to be related somehow to the Analysis ToolPak, since the truncation doesn't occur until it is installed. Since he can't disable the Analysis ToolPak (he needs it to complete his calculations), Hao is wondering if others have run into the same problem and how they fixed it.

It seems that you're not the only one who has run into the problem, nor are you the only one who would love a solution. There doesn't seem to be a solution right now, but several subscribers provided workarounds that they use.

One possible workaround is to simply "pad" the end of the Y-axis title so that it contains inconsequential characters you don't mind having chopped off. For instance, you could add a few spaces at the end of the title, followed by a period. Or, you could try non-breaking spaces (without the period) by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Space Bar. If you pad the title with printable characters, you can format those characters so that they are the same color as the background.

It appears that the space allotted for the axis title by Excel is proportional to the size of the chart itself. This means that you may need to play with the chart size and see if enlarging it allows more of the axis title to be displayed. Some subscribers also reported success by adjusting the font size used for the axis title. For font sizes up to 26 or 28 points, the title would display correctly on a single line, but again this depended on the size of the chart itself.

Some people also got good results by adding a few spaces at the beginning of the axis title text. (Yes, at the beginning.) Why this works is unclear, other than it may force Excel to act as if there are spaces at the end, even though you didn't add any, in order to center the text in the available title space.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3126) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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

Correct Line Numbers When Printing Selections

Line numbers can be indispensable on some types of documents. When you print a portion of a document (a selection) Word ...

Discover More

Word 2010 Indexes and Special Tables (Table of Contents)

One of the finishing touches used in some types of documents are an index or a special table, such as a table of ...

Discover More

Stopping Fonts from Changing

There are multiple ways that Excel can create a workbook, and the formatting in each creation method can be different. In ...

Discover More

Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Preparing a Chart Sheet for Printing

One type of chart that Excel allows you to create is one that occupies an entire worksheet. When it comes time to print ...

Discover More

Printing a Chart Across Multiple Pages

Wouldn't it be great to have your huge charts print out on multiple pieces of paper that you could then piece together? ...

Discover More

Black and White Blues

Getting a chart looking its best on a black-and-white printer can be a challenge. This tip examines different ways you ...

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.

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 5 - 5?

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.