Displaying a Chart Legend

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 2, 2026)
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. If the data you are presenting in Microsoft Graph is complex, particularly if you have many data series (rows of data to chart), you may want to add a legend. Legends provide a "road map" for your chart so a reader can decipher what is included.

You can display a legend with your chart by following these steps:

Select Chart Options from the Chart menu. Microsoft Graph displays the Chart Options dialog box.
Make sure the Legend tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Legend tab of the Chart Options dialog box

Make sure the Show Legend check box is selected.
Using the radio buttons in the Placement portion of the dialog box, indicate where the legend should appear in relation to the chart itself.
Click your mouse on OK.

If you later want to turn off display of the legend, you can repeat the above steps, but clear the Show Legend check box, instead (step 3).

Once the legend is displayed in your chart, you can use your mouse to position it. Simply point to the legend with the mouse, hold down the mouse button, and drag the legend to where you finally want it. When you release the mouse button, Microsoft Graph places the legend in the spot where you dragged it.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (721) 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...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Printing Color Separations with VBA

When printing in color (at a commercial printer) it is necessary to print different colors of your document in different ...

Discover More

Problems with Nested Subtotals

If you have a worksheet that has nested subtotals, you may have run across a problem where the subtotals and grand total ...

Discover More

Stable Layout on Different Printers

Want your document to print out the same on printers other than your own? This may be an elusive quest, as explained in ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Picking a Number Format For an Axis

Microsoft Graph is a handy way to add charts to your document if you don't have access to Excel. Here's how to adjust the ...

Discover More

Changing Shapes in Microsoft Graph

Microsoft Graph allows you to define the shapes you use to represent data series. Here's how to do it.

Discover More

Selecting a Chart Pattern

If you don't have Excel installed on your system, Microsoft Graph is a handy way to create simple charts for your ...

Discover More

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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 2 + 0?

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.