Excel chart with two X-axes (horizontal), possible

chartsmicrosoft excel

Is it possible to create an Excel chart which has two X-axes (i.e. horizontal axes, not vertical Y-axes!) ?

I want to use the second axis to plot the normalized value of the default horizontal axis.
I am using Excel 2007.

Best Answer

[Back at home now, so have rewritten for Excel 2007]

You can have a "primary" and "secondary" axis in some chart types (line, column and bar at least; maybe others) - they are in pairs so you can't have a secondary x-axis without a secondary y-axis, but you can make the secondary y-axis identical to the primary version, and then hide it, so it has no effect on the graph.

Instructions:

  • Create your basic chart with the required series.

  • Right-click the series line for each series that should use the secondary pair of axis, select Format Data Series. And inside the Series Options tab choose Secondary Axis.

  • Right-click the chart itself and click Select Data.., select on of the series to use the secondary axis and define the Horizontal (Category) Labels.

  • From the ribbon make the Secondary Axis visible, like so:
    Excel 2007 Ribbon; options to show secondary chart axis

  • Tweak the chart as needed. You may find it useful to use the "more options" option from the image above on the secondary y-axis to ensure it matches your requirements, you can also hide the secondary y-axis, if needed, from the same place.

Result

Can be something like the below image, should give you an idea of what I'm meaning:
(This is a simple contrived graph I've just thrown together, but should get the point across)
Example chart showing secondary x-axis

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