How to Create Variance Charts in Excel with Percentage Change (simple & uncommon technique)

In this video you'll learn how to dynamically highlight maximum and minimum values in line charts in Microsoft Excel. This tutorial is perfect for those looking to add more advanced, eye-catching elements to their Excel charts.

Key Learning Points:
- Dynamic Highlighting Technique: Learn how to dynamically highlight the highest and lowest points in a line chart to make your data stand out.
- Adding Series for Conditional Formatting: Understand the need to add new series to the chart for conditional formatting of max and min points.
- Customizing Markers and Data Labels: Get insights into customizing the markers for max and min points and changing the data labels' color and positioning.
- IF Logical Test Application: Discover how to use an IF logical test to identify and highlight the max and min points in your dataset.
- Interactive and Responsive Chart: See how changes in data automatically update the highlighted points in the chart, keeping your data representation accurate.
- Practical Demonstration: Follow a step-by-step guide using an example with actual sales data to apply these techniques in a real-world scenario.
- Tips and Tricks: Learn additional tips for chart formatting, including adjusting gridlines and data label colors for enhanced readability and impact.

In this video, I show you how you can use the Excel error bar technique to create really thin bars (or thick lines) which has a more subtle effect. The result is a visually effective chart that doesn't distract the readers attention from the main chart but also communicates the difference to previous year visually as well.

The chart doesn't just use the error bar technique but it also conditionally formats the bars so they are green if the data points are positive and red if the data points are negative.

This technique works for all Excel version.

🚩Let’s connect on social:

Note: This description contains affiliate links, which means at no additional cost to you, we will receive a small commission if you make a purchase using the links. This helps support the channel and allows us to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for your support!

#excel

[xeroxo]

Leila will always my thumbs up cause she is simply the best, no controversy . Learnt cool stuff from you

[megaiang]

Omg after three years of viewing all kinds of YouTube sourced studying video, your videos which for whatever reasons YouTube pushed to me this morning, are simply the best. Period. The video making is elegant, informative and beautiful.just beautiful. You explanation and voice is first class too. I really want to worship you and thank you for making and sharing your knowledge. 你是我的女神！

[SpotlightImpact]

Super cool trick especially the label format tip, that was new to me. Thanks for sharing!

[tooliste]

I just wanted to say Choukrane thank you for all what are you doing :) :) :)

[mohammadhammoud]

You continue to be the best Leila, totally appreciated

[ennykraft]

Very interesting! I like the skinny bars. After playing around with it for a while, I had this idea of achieving the same look with a regular bar chart. I drew a larger rectangle with no fill and no outline. Then I drew a second rectangle inside that one with the same height but much narrower. Then I selected both, copied them to the clipboard and pasted them into the bars (same technique you used in the video with the bars that are rounded on top).

[yschen]

Big help to me. You are unbelievably amazing.

[DmitryWhite]

Smart yet simple, as usual. You're the best :)

[saravanakumarkaliaperumal]

It is something new to me. Thanks for your excellent way of explanation.

[jaredfromtexas]

Microsoft needs to set up the "Gap Width" option so that a user can make the graph’s columns as thin as they want.

Another work-around for making the columns thin is that for the cells that contain the data, add several blank rows between each. This forces the chart to have several extra columns between the real columns, but these in between don’t show up. This is able to force the graph’s actual columns to appear thinner. But I don’t know if this method is any better/easier overall than the error bar method you’ve shown here.

[manimarankrishnan]

Well explained Leila & very useful👍👍

[mehrabganjali]

Excellent tricks. I like your channel 🌹

[xlvista]

Ur great and having incredible skills. I want to be like u skillful, I know, I can't, but want to get more knowledge. I am mis analyst also having knowledge of VBA.

[karencrouch]

Fantastic, just used it for my report to the board of a NFP I help

[nikesh]

Hi Leila, I am a great fan of your videos where I try to innovate some task and analysis that I perform at work. The Percentage change Chart you created is great. I just wanted to suggest if you can create a similar % change chart within one combo chart using scatter plotline. Is that something you can create? Thank you

[nattawut_chatwiriyacharoen]

Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. It's better to use a simple line chart instead of the Scatter XY. We have no need to worry about X and Y.

[tomtom]

Fantastic graph but there were gaps between the points on the x axis. Couldn’t work out what went wrong. Had a insert a straight line along the x axis so to cover the gaps 😂

[ordinaryo]

additional knowledge. Thanks a lot Miss Leila ;)

[diannedrechsler]

That does look neater than the bar chart version.

[ALPHERATZ]

Leila would you be so very kind to show the percentual format you have used in this chart? I tried to applied it to my chart but I still have labels with zeors.