K2 Tech Update | Tech Tip
Formatting Month Axis Labels In Excel Charts
When creating charts in Excel, accountants and other business professionals often wish to abbreviate month labels so that they display only the first character - "J" for January, "F" for February, and so on - as shown in Figure 1. Rather than creating these labels manually, let Excel do the work for you by modifying the formatting options of the axis
Figure 1 - Excel Chart with Abbreviated Month Labels
Begin by creating the chart, as you otherwise would normally do. At that point, the chart might appear as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2 - Excel Chart with Unabbreviated Month Labels
Next, right-click on any of the month labels and select Format Axis to open the Format Axis dialog box. There, click the Number tab, and from the Date category, select the format Type of "M" as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3 – Selecting a Format Code to Abbreviate Month Labels
Upon clicking Close to complete the process, you will notice that Excel now formats the axis labels for the chart as shown previously in Figure 1, eliminating the need to manually create abbreviated labels and incorporate them into the chart.
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