Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 1, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
Most people who create charts with Excel don't know that you can change just about everything that controls how the chart appears. One of the things you can easily change is the pattern used to denote a chart's axis. By default Excel normally uses a solid line for an axis. If you want to change the pattern used by Excel, follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Patterns tab of the Format Axis dialog box.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3196) 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: Formatting Axis Patterns.
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