r/excel • u/Any_Blacksmith_8179 • 6h ago

Waiting on OP Problem with the scatterplot function in Excel

For an assignment, I was tasked to create an excel scatterplot of some sample data. When I try to create a scatterplot using multiple cells as if to distribute data points for two subjects, I get an error. In addition, if I limit the graph to just one subject I get a weird series of labels on the x-axis and no points actually appear on the graph. How can I fix this problem so that I can properly graph the data distribution for one subject and create a graph so that the data distribution for subject one and two are shown.

4 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/TraditionalTurnip630 4h ago

The issue is mainly the chart setup, not your data. For this, use an XY (Scatter) chart and manually add the two series. For each series, set X values = Year and Y values = the corresponding balance column. Don’t select the whole table and let Excel guess the series, because it can treat the Year column as another data series.

Also make sure the Year values are actual numbers, not text. Once you set the X/Y ranges manually, both distributions should appear on the same graph. Excel’s Scatter chart is designed for paired X/Y values like this.