Edit a Preview Chart in Excel
You can edit PowerPoint Web charts using Excel Web to change chart elements like the title, series, legend, and more in your presentation. In this article, we will guide you through the process of editing preview charts.
How to edit a preview chart
-
From PowerPoint, left click on the chart in PowerPoint you would like to edit.
-
Select Edit in Excel.
-
A new browser tab will open the Excel workbook with the data for your chart and a preview chart will appear in the workbook.
-
The preview chart will have an orange highlight and a title with the PowerPoint (.pptx) file name. Edit this chart as you would other charts in Excel. Any changes made to this chart will be sent to PowerPoint automatically.
-
Go back to your original PowerPoint file to view the changes.
To learn more about editing charts in Excel, see: Create a chart from start to finish
All changes to the preview chart will be saved to the original PowerPoint file. Remember to check that all changes have been saved back to your original PowerPoint file before closing Excel. The preview chart does not get saved to your Excel file
Anyone with access to your PowerPoint file and Excel file can make edits to your chart as well. To share access with another user, see: Share and collaborate with Excel for the web - Microsoft Support
You may notice some visual differences between PowerPoint and the Excel preview chart:
-
Shapes can be placed on a chart in PowerPoint Desktop. If you have added shapes to your chart and edit the chart in Excel Online, you cannot see them on the preview chart. You will still see these shapes in PowerPoint, and they are still a part of the chart. To edit the shapes, use PowerPoint desktop.
-
When editing a preview chart, you may notice a difference in the colors shown between PowerPoint and Excel. This may be due to a difference in theme colors between the PowerPoint and Excel documents. To resolve this, you can change the theme colors of both documents (PowerPoint or Excel) to match one another or change the colors on the chart to a non-theme colors.
-
When editing a preview chart, you may notice a difference in the fonts shown between PowerPoint and Excel. This may be due to a difference in theme fonts between the PowerPoint and Excel documents. To resolve this, you can change the theme fonts of both documents (PowerPoint or Excel) to match one another or change the fonts on the chart to non-theme fonts.
Need more help?
Want more options?
Explore subscription benefits, browse training courses, learn how to secure your device, and more.
Communities help you ask and answer questions, give feedback, and hear from experts with rich knowledge.
