Add A Legend To A Chart - Microsoft Support

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Most charts use some kind of a legend to help readers understand the charted data. Whenever you create a chart in Excel, a legend for the chart is automatically generated at the same time. A chart can be missing a legend if it has been manually removed from the chart, but you can retrieve the missing legend.

This example chart shows a legend explaining the colors for the years 2013, 2014, 2015.

In this article

• Add a chart legend

• Edit legend texts

Add a chart legend

1. Select the chart.

2. Select Chart Elements next to the table.

   

3. Select the Legend check box.

   

   The chart now has a visible legend.

Edit legend texts

If the legend names in the chart are incorrect, you can rename the legend entries.

1. Select the chart.

2. Select Chart Filters next to the chart and click Select Data.

   

3. Select an entry in the Legend Entries (Series) list and select Edit.

   

4. In the Series Name field, type a new legend entry.

   

   Tip: You can also select a cell from which the text is retrieved. Select the Identify Cell button   and select a cell.

   

5. Select OK.

Related Topics

Create a chart from start to finish

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