Erin Wright Writing

Writing-Related Software Tutorials

How to Save Charts as Templates in Microsoft Word

By

Collection of pie charts with text overlay "How to Save Charts as Templates in Microsoft Word"

This tutorial shows how to save charts as templates in Microsoft Word. Your custom templates can then be reused to maintain visual consistency throughout your documents.

Please note that the term chart is used throughout this tutorial. However, all the steps shown here also apply to visuals typically considered to be figures or graphs, such as line graphs.

If you want to save tables as templates, please see “How to Save Tables as Templates in Microsoft Word.”

Table of Contents

Watch all the steps shown here in real time!

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

The images below are from Word for Microsoft 365. These steps also apply to Word 2021, Word 2019, and Word 2016. In addition, the steps will be similar in older versions of the software; however, your interface may look different than the images shown here.

We will cover this topic in Word for Mac in a separate tutorial.

How to Save Charts as Custom Templates

These steps assume you have already created your chart. For a full tutorial about working with charts, please see “How to Create and Customize Charts in Microsoft Word.”

  1. Right-click the chart and then select Save as Template from the shortcut menu.
Save as Template option in the Chart shortcut menu in Word 365
Figure 1. Save as Template option
  1. Enter a name in the File Name text box in the Save Chart Template dialog box.
File Name text box in the Save Chart Template dialog box in Word 365
Figure 2. File name text box
  1. Select the Save Button.
Save button in the Save Chart Template dialog box
Figure 3. Save button

Your chart should now be added to the Templates folder in the Insert Chart dialog box, as shown in the section below.

How to Use Custom Chart Templates

  1. Place your cursor in the text where you want to insert the chart.
  2. Select the Insert tab in the ribbon.
Insert tab in Word 365
Figure 4. Insert tab
  1. Select the Chart button in the Illustrations group.
Chart button in Word 365
Figure 5. Chart button
  1. Select Templates in the Insert Chart dialog box.
Templates folder in the Insert Chart dialog box in Word 365
Figure 6. Templates folder
  1. Select the template from the My Templates section.
My Templates section in the Insert Chart dialog box in Word 365
Figure 7. My Templates section
  1. Select the OK button.
OK button in the Insert Chart dialog box in Word 365
Figure 8. OK button

The chart should be inserted into your document. Note that the labels and data have returned to filler text.

The Excel spreadsheet where you enter new labels and data should appear automatically.

Excel spreadsheet for entering chart data in Word 365
Figure 9. Excel spreadsheet

However, if you need to open the Excel spreadsheet manually, right-click the chart and then select Edit Data from the shortcut menu.

Edit Data option in the Chart shortcut menu in Word 365
Figure 10. Edit Data option

How to Delete Custom Chart Templates

This section shows how to delete a chart in your document. It also shows how to delete a custom chart template from the Templates folder in the Insert Chart dialog box.

How to Delete a Chart

  1. Select the chart. (You will know the chart is selected when you see the resizing handles along the border.)
Chart resizing handles in Word 365
Figure 11. Selected chart with resizing handles
  1. Press the Delete key on your keyboard.

How to Delete a Custom Chart Template from the Templates Folder

  1. Select the Insert tab (see figure 4).
  2. Select the Chart button in the Illustrations group (see figure 5).
  3. Select Templates in the Insert Chart dialog box (see figure 6).
  4. Select the Manage Templates button.
Manage Templates button in the Insert Chart dialog box in Word 365
Figure 12. Manage Templates button
  1. Select the template in the Charts window, and then select the Delete key on your keyboard.
Selected template in the Charts window in Word 365
Figure 13. Template selected for deletion
  1. Select the X to close the Charts window.
Closing X in the Charts window in Word 365
Figure 14. Closing X
  1. Select the X or the Cancel button to close the Insert Charts dialog box.
Closing X and Cancel button in the Insert Chart dialog box in Word 365
Figure 15. Closing X and Cancel button

The custom template should be removed from the Templates folder in the Insert Chart dialog box.

Related Resources

How to Save Tables and Figures as Images in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac)

How to Cross-Reference Tables and Figures in Microsoft Word

How to Create and Update a List of Tables or Figures in Microsoft Word