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How to add a Legend Title on the newest Excel?

Anonymous
2020-04-08T19:23:13+00:00

I haven't been able to make a Legend Title on the newest version of Excel (16.35). 

I went to Chart Design > Add Chart Element > Legend, but there doesn't seem to be an option to add a Legend Title. 

This is important b/c I'm making a grouped bar chart comparing sets of ages (i.e. 21-30, 31-40, 41-50, etc.) and I wanted a Legend Title saying "Age" so that no one would be confused by the random grouping of numbers. 

Is there a way to add a Legend Title in the newest Excel or was this feature disabled? 

Thanks.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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  1. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 434.8K Reputation points
    2020-04-09T13:22:15+00:00

    As I replied to Ivy Guo, there is no option to add a title to a Legend. What you describe wanting to do might best be handled by use of the Chart Title to indicate what the chart represents, such as "Comparison by Age Range".

    Another option would be to add a Text Box to the chart to serve the purpose, but in my experience excessive labeling contradicts the fundamental purpose of a chart... concise visual representation of the data.

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-04-09T09:36:28+00:00

    Dear ktxg0,

    We can add Legend in charts but we can’t add Legend Title for the legend.

    As you want to add a Title for Legend, here is a workaround for you. You can select the chart and click Insert tab-> Add a Text Box-> Enter the title for the legend. Then adjust the size and position of text box to fit the chart better.

    We understand that this feature could benefit your work and help us improve our products. We sincerely suggest you post this requirement in Excel UserVoice, the related team will adapt the idea of the high vote and keep bring a better user experience. Every suggestion of you is important for us. Your idea may turn this feature into reality and benefit more users. 

    Thanks for  your understanding. 

    Best Regards,

    Ivy

    [Edited by Ivy Guo MSFT, 09:57 AM, April 10, 2020(UTC)]

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-04-12T18:25:38+00:00

    Ahh I see, that makes sense. Great suggestion about using the Chart Title to convey the Legend categorization (i.e. "Comparison by Age Range"). I'll most likely end up doing that instead of using a text box. 

    I'm curious why Excel decided to get rid of a Legend Title option, though, since I feel like there are others who might want that option. I wonder if it was for a functional reason like you described and Excel is just prompting people to move towards not having excessive labeling or if it was just a feature Excel forgot to put in. 

    Because I feel like for certain cases, a Legend Title would be helpful in explaining how data values are computed (people per square miles) or units of values (thousands of acres) that can't be conveyed in the Title. 

    Thanks again for the help, Bob.

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  3. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 434.8K Reputation points
    2020-04-09T13:17:17+00:00

    Based on our test, we can add Legend name for our chart in Excel 16.35.

     

    You begin your reply with this statement but provide no steps for doing so. The screen shot gives absolutely no indication that a Title has been added to the Legend or that any such choice is provided in the menu or on the Ribbon.

    AFAIK there is no built-in option to add a title/caption to the Legend so I fail to see how any of what follows your screen shot will enable a feature that doesn't exist.

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-04-10T01:58:57+00:00

    Hi Bob,

    Appreciate your correcting my reply and thanks for your suggestion.

    Best Regards,

    Ivy

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