Controlling Chart Gridlines

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 14, 2014)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Microsoft Graph is a simple graphing program provided with Word. It includes the ability to view your graph data in both spreadsheet and graph formats. The graphs you create can include gridlines, if desired. Gridlines are used in a chart to help the reader better understand the data being presented. This is particularly true with three-dimensional presentation, where it can be harder to see how chart elements precisely relate to each other. You can control the display and appearance of gridlines in this way:

  1. Select Chart Options from the Chart menu. Microsoft Graph displays the Chart Options dialog box.
  2. Make sure the Gridlines tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Gridlines tab of the Chart Options dialog box.

  4. Use the check boxes to select which gridlines are hidden or displayed. You can see the effects of your choices in the sample displayed in the dialog box.
  5. Click on OK.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (702) 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

Cannot Convert a Document File to a Readable Document

Open a Word document file, and you can start to make edits and changes to your heart's content. But what happens if the ...

Discover More

Configuring Spell Check for Internet Addresses

When writing technical documents, URLs are a common thing to include in your text. Normally Word will mark these as ...

Discover More

Double Indenting

Indenting a paragraph is easy in Word. In fact, the program provides shortcut keys that make it a snap. Indenting from ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (menu)

Adding a Border Around Text in a Chart

You can included text in your charts, and even place a border around the text.

Discover More

Turning Off Borders for Data Series

Don't want a border to appear around a data series represented in a Microsoft Graph chart? You can easily control the ...

Discover More

Starting Microsoft Graph

Microsoft Graph is a simplistic graphic tool that you can use to quickly add graphs to your document. Here's how to start ...

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.

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}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) 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 0 + 7?

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.

Videos
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.