Why can’t i add a secondary vertical axis to my Excel 365 chart?

Here’s a question from Georgia:

I need to create a bar chart in which i would like to show metrics for two different series. For some reason i am not able to insert and additional y axis to my bar chart. Any ideas on how to go about showing a plot that has two y axis? Cheers πŸ™‚

Add a secondary y axis to your Excel chart

Create example data

In this example we’ll use a very simple dataset to create a combo graph that includes both a bar and a line chart, each on a different axis. Some process can be used for other chart types such as scatter (XY), histograms, bubbles etc’. Below is that dataset that i used – feel free to copy into your Excel spreadsheet and follow along:

MonthSalesMargin
Jan358.14%
Feb216.25%
Mar168.536%
Apr378.94%
May184.730%
Jun417.57%
Jul335.099%
Aug237.229%
Sep407.90%
Oct449.115%
Nov289.219%
Dec450.75%

Create the combo chart with two axis

In a nutshell – the trick here is to use a less known chart type – the Combo chart. Here’s astep by step procedure:

  1. In your Excel worksheet , select your data (including its headers). Use the shortcut CTRL + Shift + down arrow to select your entire column contents
  2. From the Excel menu bar, hit Insert.
  3. Then, from the Charts section of the Ribbon, select hit the Insert Combo chart icon, as shown below.
  1. Next, go ahead and select Create custom Combo chart.
  2. The Insert Chart dialog will open.
  3. In the bottom part of the dialog select the chart type for your second series (in our case – named Margin) and then mark the secondary axis check box.
  1. Hit OK.
  2. The new combo chart with secondary axis will be inserted into the worksheet.
  3. Consider providing a meaningful name to your chart.
  4. Add text labels to your chart as needed.
  5. Here’s our nice chart – enjoy πŸ™‚

In case of comments or follow up questions, feel free to leave us a comment.