Clustered columns spacing inconsistent

Question

I've noticed the default behavior for clustered columns plots is to provide a small space between each column (see figure 1, left side). However, when you select a Combo plot and choose Clustered Columns, the spacing disappears (figure 1, right side).

So I figured I'd just change all the plots to Combo+Clustered Columns so they show up consistently in my publication. Except, turns out, that even the Combo+Clustered Columns displays inconsistently - sometimes the columns still retain the spacing (figure 2):

The whole situation is Incredibly Stupid™ because all the thumbnails for Clustered Column charts show no spacing between clustered columns. And yet, the little spaces are clearly there.

This is observed using Excel 2016. Can anyone confirm whether or not the 2019 release is also this dumb?

Answer 1

Set your series Overloap to 0.

Answer 2

Brilliant thank you! That's a rather weird way to implement it, being buried in the options for an individual series. I wouldn't have found that without your help.