Changing the Default Chart Type

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 20, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

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:

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

Figure 1. The Chart Type dialog box

Click on Pie in the list of Chart Types, at the left of the dialog box.
In the right side of the dialog box, select one of the six pie chart subtypes.
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.
Click on Yes. Your default chart type is now set.
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. Learn more about Allen...

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