Bars in Excel. In our last article when we discussed How To Do Conditional Formatting In Excel, today’s chapter is about how to add data bars in excel. The data bars in Excel also come under the conditional formatting option. The Data Bars are an amazing way to present your data in the form of Bars. It may not seem really helpful but let me tell you when you will understand how useful it is, you will get addicted to it. Some people might be thinking about why to use Data bars. For those people let me give you a situation where it is very useful.
Why Use Data Bars
Suppose you have a table where the revenue is mentioned for the entire year, starting from January till December, you want to represent this data to the management. Looking at this data you can not tell the difference of the profit each month visually. Somebody will have to take a look at each number.
| Month | Profit |
| January | 51109.87 $ |
| February | 42321.33 $ |
| March | 35221.34 $ |
| April | 55543.23 $ |
| May | 32312.55 $ |
| June | 43234.34 $ |
| July | 33261.45 $ |
| August | 45434.35 $ |
| September | 43432.32 $ |
| October | 43243.00 $ |
| November | 54333.34 $ |
| December | 34234.54 $ |
This table has just 12 columns and you will find it tough to tell in one glimpse which one is the biggest. If you will use the data bars of Microsoft Excel, you can find the biggest and shortest immediately. Let me show you the same data with Data Bars. Look at the pic below of the identical data.
Looking at the data above with Data Bars, Now you can easily see, in the month of April, the company secured the maximum profit. Now that you have understood how useful it is. Let us learn how to apply it in our data.
How to Add Data Bars in Excel
Handling the data bars in Microsoft Excel is really easy. You can just follow the steps underneath and you will be able to use it correctly.
- Select the data in the sheet on which you want to apply the Data bards.
- Click on the Conditional Formatting under Home Tab.
- Move your cursor to the Data Bars option.
- You will be given two options, Gradient Fill or Solid Fill.
- You need to choose the color and click on any of the Data Bar icons of your choice.
This is how you can use Data Bars in Microsoft Excel. In case of any questions, feel free to comment. I will be glad to assist you.
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