Multiple Y axis in Excel charts

Question

As far as I can tell Excel has a limit of 2 y axis, i.e. 2 vertical axis, when creating a chart.  I would like to be able to create charts with more than 2, possible up to 8 vertical axis in order to provide comparisons on a single chart, rather than have multiple charts with just 2 datasets compared.

For example, I want to compare the price history of aluminum, copper, iron, and zinc all on one chart with a line for each metal in different colors, or possibly different combinations of dashes and dots for black and white printing.

Is there a way to do this in Excel?

If not I would like to suggest that feature be added.

Answer 1

Hello,

this can be done in Excel, but it's not a very good data visualization. The screenshot shows the final result.

What you are looking at are three overlaid charts:

• chart with blue and orange lines, blue on primary, orange on secondary axis
• chart with green and yellow lines, green on primary, yellow on secondary axis, axes line and labels hidden, chart background set to "none", then placed on top of first chart.
• chart with green and yellow series, green on primary, yellow on secondary axis, series formatted to have no visible lines, chart background set to "none", chart made wider so vertical axes show outside of blue/orange axes when overlaying first two chart

Basically you need to play with hiding and showing chart elements, making the background of the overlaying charts transparent and then carefully placing the charts on top of each other.

Answer 2

Thanks for the link to the sample chart. Looking at the source code, it seems that the chart has been created with a Javascript library called Chartbuilder.js, which in turn is based on the D3.js framework, a powerful Javascript/jQuery based charting engine for web pages. 

With that approach, basically anything is possible, because anyone can get right to the very source code and control aspects of the chart, like showing four different Y axes. I'm sure that this feature is not out of the box, though, and that the programmer who built it had to use some hacks and workarounds, too.

If you want to publish your charts in a web browser, you may want to look into Javascript libraries like D3.js or Highcharts.js

When it comes to desktop based applications, Excel and Tableau are the most advanced charting engines that connect to dynamic data sources.  

I doubt that you will find a desktop tool that will be able to create such a chart without hacks, though, since it is a very unusual way to show data.

Answer 3

It sounds like a panel or matrix chart would be good choice here. Here is an example:

It really is not a good idea to try to "fit" in a lot of information in one chart. It makes it unreadable. There is only so much time people are willing to give up to decode a chart - you need to make it as simple as possible for them. 

In fact the four line charts you see above are just "one" chart in Excel. They look like 4 charts that have been placed beside each other, but they are not. To see how to create this from scratch, check out this Link.  

Hope that helps.

Answer 4

I also would like to have the same feature.

Answer 5

You can create multiple Y axes plots (2 or more axis on the left hand side) in Excel using Multy_Y or EZPlot from OfficeExpander (www.OfficeExpander.com).

Cheers.