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When charting a bunch of values, Excel isn't too careful how it formats the values that appear on the y-axis (or the x-axis when using some chart types, such as the 3-D Column chart or the XY Scatter chart). If you're not happy with the way the values appear on either the x-axis or
y-axis, you can change the formatting as follows:
1. Double-click the x-axis or y-axis in the chart or click the axis and then choose Format-->Selected Axis on the menu bar (or press Ctrl+1).
Excel opens the Format Axis dialog box containing the following tabs: Patterns, Scale, Font, Number, and Alignment.
2. To change the appearance of the tick marks along the axis, change the options on the Patterns tab (which is automatically selected when you first open the Format Axis dialog box) however you desire.
3. To change the scale of the selected axis, click the Scale tab and change the Scale options the way you want.
4. To change the font of the labels that appear at the tick marks on the selected axis, click the Font tab and change the Font options however you desire.
5. To change the formatting of the values that appear at the tick marks on the selected axis, select the Number tab; then, choose type of format in the Category list box followed by the appropriate options associated with that category.
For example, to select the Currency format with no decimal places, you select Currency in the Category list box and then enter 0 in the Decimal Places text box or select 0 with the spinner buttons.
6. To change the formatting of the orientation of the labels that appear at the tick marks on the selected axis, select the Alignment tab. Then indicate the new orientation by clicking it in the sample Text box or by entering the number of degrees (between 90 and
–90) in the Degrees text box (or by selecting this number with the spinner buttons).
7. Click OK or press Enter to close the Format Axis dialog box.
As soon as you close the Format Axis dialog box, Excel redraws the axis of the chart according to the new settings. For example, if you choose a new number format for a chart, Excel immediately formats all the numbers that appear along the selected axis using that format.
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