How to Switch the X and Y Axis in an Excel Chart

“Switch the axes” means one of three things. Find yours.

1. Bar, column or line chart: categories and series are the wrong way round

Months are along the bottom but you wanted regions.

1. Click the chart.
2. Chart Design › Switch Row/Column.

What was on the axis moves to the legend and vice versa.

2. Scatter plot: X and Y values swapped

1. Right-click the chart › Select Data.
2. Select the series › Edit.
3. Cut the range from Series X values, paste into Series Y values, and the other way round. OK.

3. Turn a column chart into a bar chart (vertical → horizontal)

Right-click the chart › Change Chart Type › Bar › Clustered Bar. The value axis moves from the left to the bottom.

Reverse the order of an axis

Click the axis › Ctrl + 1 › tick Categories in reverse order (or Values in reverse order).

Move the value axis to the other side

Click the axis › Ctrl + 1 › Labels › Label Position: High.

Check it worked

Hover a bar or point. The tooltip names the category and value you expect on each axis.

Common mistake

Switch Row/Column is greyed out — the chart is a scatter (use method 2) or a pivot chart (change the pivot’s field layout instead).