How to shorten primary and secondary axis in a chart

Question

Primary and secondary axis take the whole height of the chart.

Is there a way to shorten the axis so they span only part of the height, typically one axis towards the top and the other axis towards the bottom?

Thanks

Answer 1

Excel does not provide a way to make the primary and secondary vertical axes span only part of the plot area (for example, one axis only on the top half and the other only on the bottom half). In standard Excel charts, each vertical (value) axis, whether primary or secondary, runs the full height of the plot area.

What can be done is:

• Add or remove a secondary vertical axis (for example, in a combo chart) and format its scale independently (minimum, maximum, major unit, etc.).
• Change the scale of the primary and secondary vertical axes to make the data ranges more comparable or visually distinct.

However, both axes will still occupy the full vertical extent of the chart’s plot area; Excel does not support truncating or shortening an axis to only part of the chart height.

---

References:

• Add or remove a secondary axis in a chart in Excel
• Change the scale of the vertical (value) axis in a chart
• Change the display of chart axes