Alt+F1 creates a clustered column chart. But you can customize Alt+F1 to create the perfect chart for your job. Recap:
F11 was the old shortcut key to create a chart as a new sheet
Alt+F1 creates the same chart on the current sheet
You can customize what you get from F1
Customize your favorite chart and save as a template
Change Display Units to have scale appear in millions
Add data labels (they will also be in millions)
Move legend to the top
Change color of any series
Next time, you can use the dialog launcher to find your template
Right-click the template and set as Default Chart
You can now create perfect charts with Alt+F1
Thanks to Areef Ali, Olga Kryuchkova, and Wendy Sprakes for suggesting this feature.
F11 was the old shortcut key to create a chart as a new sheet
Alt+F1 creates the same chart on the current sheet
You can customize what you get from F1
Customize your favorite chart and save as a template
Change Display Units to have scale appear in millions
Add data labels (they will also be in millions)
Move legend to the top
Change color of any series
Next time, you can use the dialog launcher to find your template
Right-click the template and set as Default Chart
You can now create perfect charts with Alt+F1
Thanks to Areef Ali, Olga Kryuchkova, and Wendy Sprakes for suggesting this feature.
Transcript of the video:
Learn Excel from MrExcel podcast, episode 1989 - Perfect 1-Click Charts!
Hey, I'll be podcasting this whole book, go ahead click thati "i" in the top right-hand corner there, you can add the playlist to your watchlist.
Alright, welcome back to the MrExcel netcast, I'm Bill Jelen.
Today we're going to talk about creating perfect 1-click charts, so now in the old days is used to be, F11 would create a chart on a new chart sheet, but now that we can embed charts now for 15 years, embed charts right in the current sheet, it's a new keystroke, it's Alt+F1, Alt+F1 will create a clustered column chart.
Now, if you have to create clustered column charts, this is the greatest trick ever, but what if you have to create some other type of chart?
Maybe your manager makes you create bar charts, or line charts, or even just this column chart with a lot of customizations!
You can teach Excel what type of chart you want in response to Alt+F1!
So up in here change chart type, let's go to a bar chart, click OK, these numbers over here are in millions, maybe I want to display that in thousands, I double click and Display Units, I'm going to change from none to millions, just off the screen there, there's thousands, that goes up to billions or trillions.
The legend, I'd like to show the legend at the top, click the legend, choose to show legend at the top.
Maybe I want to add data labels.
Alright, see it's nice the data labels are now in millions as well, because we chose millions.
Maybe the color schemes are wrong, maybe my manager has some sort of a problem with this dark blue.
Uh, choose the dark blue go to the Format, Tab, Shape Fill, choose some other color other than dark blue.
Alright.
Get the chart looking just like you want it, then, we're going to save the chart as a template.
Now in earlier versions of Excel, it was up here on the design ribbon.
But now you have to right click, and say Save as Template.
I'm going to call it podcast 1989.
Alright now, the next time that I want to create that chart, first thing I can do is I can go to Insert, and go to the dialog launcher, that gives me all charts, choose Templates, and you'll see that there's podcast 1989!
Alright so, now it's easy to select it, but hey, if this is the chart I want to get all the time, right click and say Set as Default Chart!
Next time I press Alt+F1, I will get this chart, perfectly formatted exactly, as I need.
If there's one type of chair you're creating over and over, make that be the default chart.
Hey this book is all about saving time.
Buy the entire book, you'll have all kinds of great excel tips, to make your life easier, it's cheap, 25$ bucks, or 10$ for the e-book, just click that "i" in the top-right hand corner.
Alright, recap of this episode: F11, or now Alt+F1, creates a default chart, but instead of accepting that clustered column chart, you can customize what you get from Alt+F1.
Just customize your favorite chart, maybe do the split, change the display units to have the scale appear in millions, add data labels, they'll also be in millions.
Move the legend to the top, change the color of any series, anything you need to do.
Then the next time, use the dialog launcher to find your template, go to that all charts, tab the templates folder.
If this is the chart you're going to create all the time, right click the template and say Set as Default Chart!
Then, that'll be what you get when you press Alt+F1.
Remember, the book was crowdsourced, I asked people to send in their favorite tips, my friend Areef Ali down in Trinidad, Olga K, and Wendy Sprakes.
I'll send in this feature.
I want to thank them for participating, want to thank you for stopping by, we'll see you next time for another netcast from MrExcel!
Hey, I'll be podcasting this whole book, go ahead click thati "i" in the top right-hand corner there, you can add the playlist to your watchlist.
Alright, welcome back to the MrExcel netcast, I'm Bill Jelen.
Today we're going to talk about creating perfect 1-click charts, so now in the old days is used to be, F11 would create a chart on a new chart sheet, but now that we can embed charts now for 15 years, embed charts right in the current sheet, it's a new keystroke, it's Alt+F1, Alt+F1 will create a clustered column chart.
Now, if you have to create clustered column charts, this is the greatest trick ever, but what if you have to create some other type of chart?
Maybe your manager makes you create bar charts, or line charts, or even just this column chart with a lot of customizations!
You can teach Excel what type of chart you want in response to Alt+F1!
So up in here change chart type, let's go to a bar chart, click OK, these numbers over here are in millions, maybe I want to display that in thousands, I double click and Display Units, I'm going to change from none to millions, just off the screen there, there's thousands, that goes up to billions or trillions.
The legend, I'd like to show the legend at the top, click the legend, choose to show legend at the top.
Maybe I want to add data labels.
Alright, see it's nice the data labels are now in millions as well, because we chose millions.
Maybe the color schemes are wrong, maybe my manager has some sort of a problem with this dark blue.
Uh, choose the dark blue go to the Format, Tab, Shape Fill, choose some other color other than dark blue.
Alright.
Get the chart looking just like you want it, then, we're going to save the chart as a template.
Now in earlier versions of Excel, it was up here on the design ribbon.
But now you have to right click, and say Save as Template.
I'm going to call it podcast 1989.
Alright now, the next time that I want to create that chart, first thing I can do is I can go to Insert, and go to the dialog launcher, that gives me all charts, choose Templates, and you'll see that there's podcast 1989!
Alright so, now it's easy to select it, but hey, if this is the chart I want to get all the time, right click and say Set as Default Chart!
Next time I press Alt+F1, I will get this chart, perfectly formatted exactly, as I need.
If there's one type of chair you're creating over and over, make that be the default chart.
Hey this book is all about saving time.
Buy the entire book, you'll have all kinds of great excel tips, to make your life easier, it's cheap, 25$ bucks, or 10$ for the e-book, just click that "i" in the top-right hand corner.
Alright, recap of this episode: F11, or now Alt+F1, creates a default chart, but instead of accepting that clustered column chart, you can customize what you get from Alt+F1.
Just customize your favorite chart, maybe do the split, change the display units to have the scale appear in millions, add data labels, they'll also be in millions.
Move the legend to the top, change the color of any series, anything you need to do.
Then the next time, use the dialog launcher to find your template, go to that all charts, tab the templates folder.
If this is the chart you're going to create all the time, right click the template and say Set as Default Chart!
Then, that'll be what you get when you press Alt+F1.
Remember, the book was crowdsourced, I asked people to send in their favorite tips, my friend Areef Ali down in Trinidad, Olga K, and Wendy Sprakes.
I'll send in this feature.
I want to thank them for participating, want to thank you for stopping by, we'll see you next time for another netcast from MrExcel!
