Adding Data Labels to a Chart

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 29, 2016)
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. One of the finishing touches you can add to your chart is to include data labels. These are simply text that indicates the numbers represented by the chart element. You can also use series labels as your data labels.

You can add data labels to your chart by following these steps:

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

  4. Use the radio buttons to select the type of data label you want to display. (Some data label types might not be available based on your chart type.)
  5. Click on OK. Microsoft Graph adds the data labels to your chart.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (722) 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. ...

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