How to Create and Customize Charts in Microsoft Word

Charts offer a concise and visually appealing way to present numeric information. This tutorial explains the basics of creating and customizing charts in Microsoft Word. We’ll cover five topics:

How to insert a chart
How to update existing data in a chart
How to resize a chart
How to reposition a chart
How to change chart colors

These steps apply to all seventeen of Word’s prebuilt chart types:

Column	Area	Surface	Histogram	Combo
Line	X Y (Scatter)	Radar	Box & Whisker
Pie	Map	Treemap	Waterfall
Bar	Stock	Sunburst	Funnel

Important Note: Word provides many ways to customize charts—many more than can reasonably be covered in one tutorial. So, this tutorial presents the basic methods I believe will be most useful for the majority of users.

Before we begin…

What about Figures and Graphs?

In the writing world, charts and graphs fall under the umbrella term figures, which also includes photos, drawings, maps, and musical scores.

Graphs are generally considered a type of chart. Therefore, the term chart is used throughout this tutorial. However, all the steps shown here also apply to visuals typically considered to be graphs, such as line graphs.

This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.

Watch more than 150 other writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel.

The images below are from Word for Microsoft 365. The steps are the same in Word 2021, Word 2019, Word 2016, and Word 2013. However, your interface may look slightly different in those older versions of the software.

How to Insert a Chart

Place your cursor where you want to insert the chart.
Select the Insert tab in the ribbon.

Insert tab in Word 365 — Figure 1. Insert tab

Select the Chart button in the Illustrations group.

Chart button in Word 365 — Figure 2. Chart button

Select a chart type from the left side of the Insert Chart dialog box.

Insert Chart dialog box chart types in Word 365 — Figure 3. Chart types

Pro Tip: Hover your pointer over the example image in the center of the Insert Chart dialog box to see a larger example of the chosen chart type.

Select a subtype of the selected chart.

The available subtypes will depend on the selected chart. Common charts such as pie charts and bar charts offer attractive 3-D options.

Insert Chart dialog box chart subtypes in Word 365 — Figure 4. Chart subtypes

Select the OK button to close the Insert Chart dialog box and insert the chart.

Insert Chart dialog box OK button in Word 365 — Figure 5. Insert Chart OK button

Enter labels and numbers into the spreadsheet by typing over the example data. Add additional labels and numbers or delete the example data as necessary.

Chart spreadsheet in Word 365 — Figure 6. Chart spreadsheet

Do you want to create a caption below your chart? See “How to Insert Figure Captions and Table Titles in Microsoft Word.”

Select the X to close the spreadsheet.

Chart spreadsheet closing X in Word 365 — Figure 7. Spreadsheet closing X

(Optional Step) Select the Chart Elements button to the right of the chart if you want to add or remove the title, data labels, or the legend. (Click inside the border to select the chart if the right-side buttons are not visible.)

Chart Elements menu in Word 365 — Figure 8. Chart Elements button and menu

How to Update Existing Data in a Chart

Right-click the chart.
Select Edit Data from the shortcut menu.

Edit Data option in Word 365 — Figure 9. Edit Data option

Pro Tip: Select the arrow next to Edit Data and select Edit Data in Excel if you want to update your chart in Excel rather than Word’s spreadsheet.

Edit your data in the spreadsheet (see figure 6).
Select the X to close the spreadsheet and apply your changes (see figure 7).

How to Resize a Chart

Charts can be resized by dragging the border or by using exact dimensions (e.g., 3” x 4”).

Basic Method: Resize a Chart by Dragging the Border

Click inside the border to reveal the resizing handles.

Chart resizing handles in Word 365 — Figure 10. Resizing handles

Click and hold one of the handles as you drag the chart to the appropriate size.

- The corner handles provide movement in all directions.
- The side handles provide horizontal movement.
- The top and bottom handles provide vertical movement.

Advanced Method: Resize a Chart to Exact Dimensions

Click inside the border to select the chart.
Select the Layout Options button to the right of the chart.

Chart Layout Options button in Word 365 — Figure 11. Layout Options button

Select See more from the Layout Options menu.

"See more" option in the Layout Options menu in Word 365 — Figure 12. See more option

Select the Size tab in the Layout dialog box.

Layout dialog box Size tab in Word 365 — Figure 13. Size tab

(Optional Step) Select Lock aspect ratio if you want to maintain the current shape.

Layout dialog box "Lock aspect ratio" option in Word 365 — Figure 14. Lock aspect ratio option

Enter the dimensions in the Height and Width boxes. If you selected Lock aspect ratio, you only have to enter one of these numbers.

Layout dialog box Height and Width menu boxes in Word 365 — Figure 15. Height and Width boxes

Select the OK button to close the Layout dialog box and apply your new dimensions.

Layout dialog box OK button in Word 365 — Figure 16. Layout OK button

How to Reposition a Chart

You can customize your chart’s placement on the page by changing its alignment and text wrapping. Text wrapping determines how charts and other figures are positioned in relation to the surrounding text.

Select the Home tab in the ribbon.

Home tab in Word 365 — Figure 17. Home tab

Click inside the border to select the chart.
Select the Align Left, Center, or Align Right button in the Paragraph group.

Align Left, Center, and Align Right buttons in Word 365 — Figure 18. Align Left, Center, and Align Right buttons

(Optional Step) Select the Layout Options button to the right of the chart for text wrapping options.

Chart text wrapping options in Word 365 — Figure 19. Layout Options menu with text wrapping options

Your position changes will be applied immediately.

How to Change Chart Colors

You can choose a prebuilt color palette for your whole chart or select custom colors for individual elements.

See the bonus section below for information about using RGB, HSL, and Hex color codes.

Basic Method: Choose a Prebuilt Color Palette

Click inside the border to select the chart.
Select the Chart Styles button to the right of the chart.

Chart Styles button in Word 365 — Figure 20. Chart Styles button

Select the Color tab in the shortcut menu.

Chart Styles menu Color tab in Word 365 — Figure 21. Color tab

Select a color palette.

Chart color palettes in Word 365 — Figure 22. Color palettes

Your new color palette will be applied immediately.

Advanced Method: Choose Custom Colors

Select and then right-click the individual chart element you want to change.
Select the Fill button in the shortcut menu.

Fill button in Word 365 — Figure 23. Fill button

Select a color from the drop-down menu or choose More Fill Colors for additional options.

Your new color will be applied immediately.

Bonus Section: How to Use RGB, HSL, and Hex Color Codes in a Chart

Word lets you use RGB (Red, Green, Blue) and HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness) color codes in your charts. In addition, you can use Hex color codes if you are using an updated version of Word for Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365).