
There are 3 commonly used types of area charts:
- Clustered: The areas for data series are clustered into the vertical axis. ...
- Stacked: Data points are placed cumulatively for each category, meaning that the top area represents the total of data below. ...
- 100% Stacked: You can choose a 100% stacked area chart to see relative percentage of multiple series. ...
How do I make a stacked area chart?
To create an area chart, follow the steps below:
- Open Tableau Desktop and connect to the Sample - Superstore data source.
- Navigate to a new worksheet.
- From the Data pane, drag Order Date to the Columns shelf.
- On the Columns shelf, right-click YEAR (Order Date) and select Month.
- From the Data pane, drag Quantity to the Rows shelf.
- From the Date pane, drag Ship Mode to Color on the Marks card.
How to create stacked chart?
Stacked Column Chart in Excel
- 5 Main Parts of Stacked Column Chart. (Horizontal) The x-axis represents an individual entry for which the values are to be presented. ...
- Types of Stacked Column Chart in Excel. Select the range of cells (rows and columns) containing the data to be presented using a stacked column graph.
- Pros. ...
- Cons. ...
- Things to Remember. ...
- Recommended Articles. ...
How to split a stacked chart in Excel?
- (1) In Cell C2 enter =IF (B2>$B$13,$B$13,B2), and drag the Fill Handle to the Range C2:C7;
- (2) In Cell D2 enter =IF (B2>$B$13,100,NA ()), and drag the Fill Handle to the Range D2:D7;
- (3) In Cell E2 enter =IF (B2>$B$13,B2-$B$12-1,NA ()), and drag the Fill Handle to the Range E2:E7.
What does it mean to stack charts in Excel?
There are below points that need to keep in mind while creating Bin’s or Intervals:
- The First bin includes all the values below it. For bin 30, frequency 5 includes all the scores below 30.
- The last bin is 90. If the values are higher than the last bin, Excel automatically creates another bin – More. ...
- This chart is called a static histogram chart. ...
- You can do the formatting of this chart like other charts.

How do I create a stacked area chart in Excel?
Creating a Stacked Area ChartSelect the entire dataset (A1:D6)Click the Insert tab.In the Chart group, click on the 'Insert Line or Area Chart' icon.In the 2-D Area category, click on Stacked Area.
What is stacked area chart?
In a stacked area chart, all of the lines are stacked on top of each other over a straight baseline at the bottom of the stack. With a stream graph, the baseline is set through the center of the chart, and the areas symmetrically gathered around the central line.
What is a stacked line chart in Excel?
Stacked Line charts show the contribution to trends in the data. This is done by stacking lines on top of each other. Stacked Line charts are used with data which can be placed in an order, from low to high. The charts are used when you have more than one data column which all add up to the total trend.
How do you analyze a stacked area chart?
How to read the stacked area charts?The stacked area shows each of the grouped items, in this case labels, as a separate colour. The horizontal axis shows the totals per day. ... Numbers are clickable so you can drill down to see the individual tasks behind the numbers.
What is a 100% stacked area chart?
A 100% Stacked Area Chart is a built-in Excel chart type, with data plotted as areas and stacked so that the cumulative area always represents 100%.
What is the difference between line and stacked line chart?
In a line chart you can choose to display the lines as single lines or stacked lines. With single lines the various data values are displayed with respect to the time in regularly arranged categories. A stacked line chart compares trends over time of two or more sets of data corresponding with colored lines.
What is the meaning of stacked line?
A stacked line chart is a line chart in which lines do not intersect, because they are cumulative at each point. In a stacked 100% line chart, the lines reach a total of 100% of the axis range at each point.
What is the difference between area chart and line chart?
Area charts have a pattern similar to line charts. However, the space between each line and the X-axis is filled with a specific color. Area charts are ideal for indicating a change among different data sets. A line chart connects discrete but continuous data points by using straight line segments.
What is the purpose of an area chart?
Area charts are used to represent cumulated totals using numbers or percentages (stacked area charts in this case) over time. Use the area chart for showing trends over time among related attributes.
Why would you use an area chart?
An area chart is a good way to demonstrate trends over time to the viewer, for example showing the total population over time. This chart is based on the line chart. The filled area can give a greater sense of the trends in a particular dataset.
What would you use a area chart for?
Area charts are commonly used to showcase data that depicts a time-series relationship. Information in an area chart is plotted on the x- and y-axis; data values are plotted using data points that are connected using line segments.
What are Stacked Area Charts
In a Stacked Area Chart, the next data series forms a stack on the previous data series like a stack of dishes. Consequently, the data points of any data series contain the sum of the data points of the data series below it. Stacked Area Charts represent the cumulative data in an efficient way.
Inserting a Stacked Area Chart
The working of Stacked Area Charts is very similar to the Stacked Line Charts of Excel. The only difference is that in Stacked Area Charts, the area below the data series fills with legend key color.
What if Source Data has Negative Values?
There can be a case when the source data we considered for making the chart has the negative values to be plotted on the chart.
What is a stacked bar chart?
Stacked chart in excel are of three types, stacked column chart, stacked bar chart and 100% stacked column chart and 100% stacked bar chart, in stacked charts data series are stacked over one another for a particular axes, in stacked column chart the series are stacked vertically while in bar the series are stacked horizontally.
Why should you avoid using stacked charts?
Lots of Data: One has to avoid using the stacked chart when there are lots of data because it is very much difficult to analyze after seeing lots of variants.
How to make a stacked column chart in Excel?
Step 1: Firstly, enter the data for which you want to create a stacked column chart and select the data. Step 2: Then go to the toolbar tab, here you can see the “insert” option. Click on Insert and then click on column chart options as shown below.
Why are stacked column charts useful?
Stacked column charts are useful only if there are limited segments in a group; if there are many inputs that belong to the same group , then the stacked column chart will be very congested, making the analysis difficult.
How to change the color of a plot area in Excel?
To change the Color of the Plot Area, Right-click on Format Plot Area. Select fill> Gradient Fill and Select your color. Using the change color option, we can simply change the chart’s theme and choose more comfortable colors for our stacked column chart. To add Chart title go to Layout>Chart title>select Above chart.

How to Make Excel Stacked Area Chart?
Example #1
- Steps to make a stacked area chart in Excel: 1. Select the entire dataset. 1. Click the Inserttab. 1. In the Chart group, click on the Area Chart icon. Click on Stacked Areaunder the 2-D Area icon. 1. This will give you an area chart, as shown below. 1. Right-click on Legend and select Format Legend. 1. Go to Legend Options and select Bottom. 1. After that, our Chart looks like this. 1. Fo…
Example #2
- Steps to make a stacked area in Excel: 1. Select the entire dataset. 1. Click the Inserttab. 1. In the Chart group, click on the Area Chart icon. Click on the 3-D Areaicon. 1. This will give you an area chart, as shown below. 1. After adding the chart title and adjustment of legend as we have discussed in the previous example, our chart will look like this. Note:We can change the graph b…
Where Can We Use Excel Stacked Area Chart?
- Re-presentation can be read at a glance.
- Stacked Area Graphs work best when we have multiple data series.
- When we need to point out each data series from the total.
- The entire graph represents the total of all the data plotted.
Limitation
- A stacked are chart will not work for negative values.
- It may be drawn to the upward and downward slopes of the colored area, but this can be misleading.
- Difficult to add data labels since there is less white space available.
- Area charts can imply more data than available.
Recommended Articles
- This has been a guide to Stacked Area Chart. Here we discuss How to make Excel Stacked Area Chart along with excel examples and a downloadable excel template. You may also look at these suggested articles – 1. VBA Charts 2. Excel Area Chart 3. Marimekko Chart Excel 4. Interactive Chart in Excel