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Missing Custom Error bars in MS Excel

Anonymous
2021-12-03T17:41:12+00:00

The MS Excel "Help" on custom error bars says

"On the Chart Design tab, click Add Chart Element, and then click More Error Bars Options."

However, in my version of Excel (16.55 as part of my MS 365 Subscription) there is no such entry in the "Add Chart Element" menu. All that's available are the (useless) "standard deviation" etc. error bars. Can anybody tell me how to resurrect this feature (which used to work until recently)?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For education | MacOS

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-12-03T21:39:58+00:00

    P.S.: Surprisingly, after I imported an existing Excel file WITH custom error bars, the option "More Error Bars Options" magically appeared in the pull-down menu. So it looks like some features in Excel only appear after they have been used successfully? Anyway, it solves my immediate problem - thanks.

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-12-03T20:21:16+00:00

    As I stated in my original post, the Excel version I work with is 16.55 (365 Subscription through my University). The graph that I am trying to apply error bars to is a standard x-y scatter plot. In fact, the "default" error bar options all work, but they don't have the correct length (I calculate my errors based on something more complicated than "%"). The strange thing is that the option "More Error Bars Options" does not even APPEAR in the drop-down menu - it isn't just greyed out (as some other things might be if they can't be applied to a given graph). Again, I have used this on previous versions of Excel without problem...

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  2. Jim G 134K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-12-03T19:54:12+00:00

    Hi

    What chart type are you trying to apply error bars to? Not all chart types support error bars.

    Is your install of Excel up to date? The current channel update is 16.55. Go to the Excel menu and choose About Excel to find your version number and reply with that info along with the chart type you're working with.

    Thanks.

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