Standalone and embedded charts

Excel charts can exist in two states: as an embedded object, in a worksheet, floating above the cell grid, or, in a sheet all by themselves.

In this video, we'll look at how to move charts from one state to the other.

Normally, when you choose a chart type on the ribbon, Excel creates an embedded chart on the same worksheet, which floats over the cell grid below.

But you can also move a chart to a sheet all by itself.

To move a chart into its own sheet, first, select the chart.

Then, go to the Design tab under Chart Tools, and click the Move Chart button.

The Move dialog will open and you'll see two options: "New Sheet", and "Object in". Select New Sheet.

When you click OK, Excel will remove the chart from the existing sheet and place it into a new sheet of its own. The new sheet will be to the left of the sheet you started on.

If you visit Page Setup, you'll see  the chart occupies the entire page. You're free to change the page orientation here if you like.

To move the chart back to Sheet1, click Move Chart again. This time, select Object in, and choose Sheet1. When you click OK, Excel will remove the standalone chart worksheet, and place the chart back into Sheet1.

You can also right-click to move a chart. Just select the chart, right-click, and choose Move Chart from the menu. This works in both directions.