Edit Data in Line Chart

Question

I created a line chart a couple of weeks ago and now I need to update the data and also include the worksheet in a report for school.

I can no longer update the data. When I right click the chart the "Edit Data" section is greyed out. I also clicked on "Chart Design" and the options are greyed out as well.

Pls. help.

Thanks!

Answer 1

The Edit Data command only applies to data that is in a Word file. If you are using an Excel worksheet, edit in Excel.

Answer 2

Dear @Latoya Rush,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Based on your description, the Edit Data and Chart Design options in your Excel line chart are greyed out.

Have you checked whether the chart is linked to a protected worksheet or workbook, or if the file is in Protected View or marked as Read-Only?

In the meantime, here are some suggestions you can try:

Check Workbook Protection

Go to Review > Unprotect Sheet or Unprotect Workbook. If it asks for a password, you’ll need to remove protection first.

Enable Editing

If the file shows a yellow bar at the top saying Protected View, click Enable Editing.

Verify Data Source

If the chart came from another workbook, the link may be broken.

• Right-click the chart > Select Data (if available).
• If not available, you may need to recreate the chart with the correct data range.

Check File Permissions

Right-click the file > Properties > ensure Read-only is unchecked.

I hope information above helpful, if you have any other questions, feel free to reach out. If it does not work or meet your expectation, let know so we could find better solution together to resolve this issue

---

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.