Bug in Microsoft Excel Scatter Plot

[Jaques Strapp]

I am trying to make a simple scatter plot. There are two columns of data. Excel will not plot values on the x- axis, only categories. I have entered the ranges for x and y values correctly, and the chart wizard shows it; yet, the chart comes out with the x-axis showing only the points numbered in the order they are entered in the spreadsheet. Oddly enough, if only one y-value is included, it plots properly; the x-axis correctly shows the range of x-values entered, and the single data point shows up at its proper xy location. as soon as I expand the y-range to more points, the x-axis reverts to categories, and can't be fixed. I think this is a bug. How so I fix it. Thanks.

[Go!pee]

Ensure that this is in fact an xy chart: With the chart selected, Chart - Chart Type. If so, look at Chart - Source Data, Series tab: Ensure there that the x and y cell references are what you want. Still failing? Remove formatting from your x and y cells (Format - Cells - Number - General). What do you see there.

[Panop]

There are two things that you can check. First be sure the chart type is XY (Scatter). Second just be sure all data values are numeric, not text. If even one is non-numeric, the XY (Scatter) chart will revert to Line (category labels on the horizontal axis). To fix, enter 0 (zero) in a cell, copy the cell, select the cells containing the chart data, and choose Edit > Paste Special > Add.