Changing the Default Chart Type

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated August 30, 2014)

Word includes a program called Microsoft Graph that allows you to quickly and easily create graphs from simple data. If you find yourself working primarily with a specific type of data, and presenting that data in the same way most of the time, you may want to change the default chart type used by Microsoft Graph. When you first install Microsoft Graph, the default type of chart is a column chart. If you want your default to be a pie chart, for instance, you can follow these steps:

  1. Choose Chart Type from the Chart menu. Microsoft Graph displays the Chart Type dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

    2. Figure 1. The Chart Type dialog box

  2. Click on Pie in the list of Chart Types, at the left of the dialog box.
  3. In the right side of the dialog box, select one of the six pie chart subtypes.
  4. Click on the Set As Default Chart button at the bottom of the dialog box. Microsoft Graph displays a dialog box asking you to confirm your action.
  5. Click on Yes. Your default chart type is now set.
  6. Click on Cancel to close the Chart Type dialog box.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (682) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Replacing Two Tabs with a Space in Limited Situations

The Find and Replace feature of Word is very powerful, allowing you to finely target exactly what you want to search. ...

Discover More

Non-Tiled Background Pictures

Background images for a worksheet are automatically repeated over and over (tiled) by Excel. This tip describes a ...

Discover More

Protecting Your Revisions

Want to protect your documents so that people can't edit them without you knowing about it? One way is to make sure that ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Changing the Perspective of Your Chart

Microsoft Graph can be a handy way to add quick and dirty charts to your document. When working with 3-D charts, you can ...

Discover More

Picking a Chart Type

Microsoft Chart offers several different types of charts you can use to display your data. Here's how to pick the type ...

Discover More

Including Datasheet Rows or Columns in a Chart

Controlling which datasheet information is graphed in a chart.

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is eight less than 9?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR AUTHORS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2019 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.