How to Add a Chart Style to Microsoft Excel

Your data tells a story. But if it’s buried in a bland, default Excel chart, nobody’s listening.

Chart styles in Microsoft Excel are one of the fastest ways to transform raw numbers into visuals that actually communicate something. Whether you’re prepping a presentation, building a report, or sharing insights with your team, the right chart style makes your data impossible to ignore.

The good news? You don’t need to be a design expert. Excel does the heavy lifting. You just need to know where to click.

This guide walks you through every method — step by step — so you can apply, switch, and customize chart styles without wasting time guessing.

What Is a Chart Style in Excel?

A chart style is a preset combination of colors, fonts, backgrounds, and formatting options that you can apply to a chart in one click. Instead of manually adjusting 10 different settings, you pick a style and Excel handles the rest.

Think of it like applying a theme to a presentation — but just for your chart.

Excel comes loaded with built-in styles. These pull from your current workbook theme, so they naturally align with your existing color palette. You can also tweak individual elements after applying a style if you want something more specific.

Why does this matter?

• 91% of people prefer visual information over text when processing data (Shift Learning)
• Charts processed visually are understood 60,000 times faster than plain text (3M Corporation)
• 65% of people are visual learners — meaning your audience literally absorbs data better through well-designed charts
• Data presented visually is 43% more persuasive than the same information in text form (Wharton School of Business)

That’s not a small edge. That’s the difference between a decision-maker acting on your data or moving past it.

How to Add a Chart Style in Excel (Step by Step)

Adding a chart style in Excel takes less than 30 seconds once you know where to look. Here’s exactly how to do it.

Step 1 — Create or select your chart

If you don’t have a chart yet, select your data range first. Then go to Insert → Charts and pick your chart type (bar, line, pie, etc.). If you already have a chart, click on it to select it.

Step 2 — Open the Chart Design tab

When your chart is selected, a new tab called Chart Design appears in the ribbon at the top. Click it. This tab only shows up when a chart is active — it’s hidden otherwise.

Step 3 — Browse Chart Styles

In the Chart Design tab, you’ll see a Chart Styles group. This shows a row of style thumbnails. Hover over each one to preview how it changes your chart in real time.

Step 4 — Apply your chosen style

Click the style you want. Excel applies it instantly. No confirmation needed.

Step 5 — Expand for more options

See the small dropdown arrow at the bottom right of the Chart Styles gallery? Click it to expand all available styles. You’ll get a full grid instead of just the visible row.

That’s it. Five steps and your chart looks completely different.

Apply Chart Styles Using the Paintbrush Shortcut

There’s a faster method most people miss.

When you click on a chart, three small icons appear on its right edge. The middle icon — a paintbrush — is the Chart Styles shortcut.

Click the paintbrush and two tabs appear: Style and Color.

• Style shows all preset style options in a scrollable panel
• Color lets you switch between color palettes (Colorful and Monochromatic options)

This shortcut is particularly useful when you’re working with a chart that’s already formatted and you just want to quickly test different looks without navigating the ribbon.

Switch Between Chart Styles Without Starting Over

One thing that trips people up: they think applying a new chart style will undo all their custom formatting. It won’t — but it will override some things.

Here’s what a new style will change:

• Background color
• Line and bar colors
• Font weight and size in some cases
• Data label formatting

Here’s what it won’t change:

• Your axis labels
• The data itself
• Chart title text (though the style may adjust its appearance)
• Custom shapes or text boxes you’ve manually added

The smarter workflow: pick your style first, then customize on top of it.

Change Chart Colors Alongside Your Style

Style and color work together. After applying a style, you may want to adjust the color palette to match your brand or report theme.

Here’s how:

1. Click your chart to select it
2. Go to Chart Design in the ribbon
3. Click Change Colors (left side of the Chart Styles group)
4. Choose from Colorful or Monochromatic palettes

You can also access this via the paintbrush shortcut → Color tab.

Pro tip: Excel’s color options pull from your workbook’s theme. If you want brand-specific colors that don’t exist in the defaults, you’ll need to customize the theme first under Page Layout → Colors → Customize Colors.

Format Individual Chart Elements After Applying a Style

Chart styles give you a great foundation. But sometimes you need to go a level deeper.

To format a specific element:

1. Double-click on the element you want to edit (a bar, a line, the legend, an axis)
2. A Format panel opens on the right side
3. Adjust fill color, border, shadow, size, and more

Common elements people customize after applying a style:

• Data labels — change font size or color for readability
• Plot area — remove the background fill if it clashes with your slide
• Gridlines — reduce opacity or remove them entirely for a cleaner look
• Legend — move it inside the chart or reposition it

According to an MIT study, well-formatted data visualizations increase comprehension by up to 400% compared to poorly formatted ones. The extra few minutes you spend refining your chart pays off in how your audience absorbs the information.

Apply the Same Style to Multiple Charts at Once

If you’re building a report or dashboard with several charts, you want visual consistency. Here’s how to apply the same style without repeating the process for each chart.

Method 1 — Copy formatting with Paste Special

1. Format your first chart exactly how you want it
2. Click the chart and press Ctrl+C to copy
3. Click a different chart
4. Go to Home → Paste → Paste Special
5. Select Formats and click OK

Method 2 — Set a chart as the default

1. Format your chart the way you want
2. Right-click the chart
3. Select Set as Default Chart

New charts you create will automatically use this style as a starting point.

Method 3 — Use Chart Templates

1. Format your chart the way you like
2. Right-click it and select Save as Template
3. Give it a name and save
4. When creating future charts, go to Insert → Recommended Charts → All Charts → Templates and select your saved template

This is the most powerful option for teams that produce charts regularly. According to Gartner, organizations that standardize their data presentation see up to 30% faster decision-making cycles compared to those using inconsistent formats.

Common Chart Style Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)

Even experienced Excel users fall into these traps. Avoid them and your charts will immediately look more professional.

Mistake: Using 3D chart styles for data accuracy

3D styles look impressive but they distort visual proportions. A bar that’s slightly taller appears much larger in 3D perspective. Stick to 2D styles when accuracy matters.

Mistake: Picking styles based on looks alone

Some styles use dark backgrounds with light text. These look great on screen but print terribly. Always consider where your chart will be consumed before locking in a style.

Mistake: Applying a style to the wrong chart type

Certain styles are optimized for specific chart types. A style designed for column charts may look off on a scatter plot. Preview before committing.

Mistake: Ignoring color contrast

Research from the Web Accessibility Initiative shows 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women have some form of color vision deficiency. Styles that rely only on red vs. green distinctions fail a meaningful portion of your audience. Choose styles with high contrast and distinct shapes.

Mistake: Never updating the default style

Excel’s default gray chart is familiar, but it communicates nothing. If you use Excel charts regularly and you’re still on the default style, you’re leaving persuasive power on the table.

Keyboard Shortcuts to Speed Up the Process

Once you know the ribbon path, these shortcuts will cut your time significantly.

There’s no single keyboard shortcut that opens the full styles gallery directly, but the Alt → J → C sequence is the fastest ribbon navigation path on Windows.

When to Use Different Chart Styles

Not every situation calls for the same approach. Here’s a quick decision guide:

Use a light, clean style when presenting to executives or clients. White backgrounds, minimal gridlines, and clear labels communicate confidence and professionalism.

Use a dark or bold style when presenting on screen in a dimly lit room or in a video walkthrough. High contrast styles are easier to read from a distance.

Use a monochromatic style when your report will be printed in black and white, or when you want to keep the focus on the data rather than the visual design.

Use colorful, high-contrast styles when your chart needs to communicate multiple data series and your audience needs to distinguish between them quickly.

According to Nielsen Norman Group, users decide whether a data visualization is trustworthy within 50 milliseconds of seeing it — before they read a single label. Your style choice is the first impression.

Conclusion

Adding a chart style in Microsoft Excel is one of the simplest ways to make your data more persuasive, more professional, and more memorable.

The process is straightforward: select your chart, open the Chart Design tab or use the paintbrush shortcut, and click the style that fits your context. Then layer in color adjustments, element-level customization, and chart templates to build consistency across all your reports.

The numbers back it up — visual data is processed faster, remembered longer, and drives better decisions. 91% of people prefer visual information, charts are understood 60,000x faster than text, and well-formatted visuals increase comprehension by up to 400%.

Every chart you build is an opportunity to communicate more effectively. Stop settling for the default gray. Your data deserves better — and so does your audience.