Change more than 6 default chart colours

A problem with the existing settings in Excel is that you cannot change more than 6 default chart colours. You can set up your own customised colours to use for each series but only up to series 6 (you can see how to do this at the bottom of the page).

A workaround to this could be:

YouTube Change more than 6 default chart colours

To see how to customise the chart template watch the example video from the Excel Charts and Graphs Course below

Use the Chart Format Painter

Set up the chart the way you like it (colours manually set up) then use this going forward to easily take the chart format, including your colour scheme, and ‘paint’ it onto the other chart/s.

You can see more on the ‘Copy the Format of one chart to another‘ lesson.

This works as long as you have this ‘sample’ chart always visible to you.

Create a Chart Template

The other option is to create a chart template i.e. in the same place where you choose whether you want a line chart, or a column chart, you can have a template which is based on how you set up a chart including the colour scheme.

Want to learn more about Microsoft Excel? If you prefer attending a course and live in South Africa look at the Johannesburg MS Excel 3 Day Advanced Course  or the Cape Town MS Excel 3 Day Advanced training course. If you prefer online learning or live outside South Africa, look at our online MS Excel training courses.

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