Area Chart

 

An area chart is a line chart with the areas below the lines filled with colors. Use a stacked area chart to display the contribution of each value to a total over time.

To create an area chart, execute the following steps.

1. Select the range A1:D7.

Select a Range in Excel

2. On the Insert tab, in the Charts group, click the Line symbol.

Insert Area Chart

3. Click Area.

Click Area

Result: in this example, some areas overlap.

Area Chart in Excel

Below you can find the corresponding line chart to clearly see this.

Line Chart in Excel

4. Change the chart's subtype to Stacked Area (the one next to Area).

Result:

Stacked Area Chart in Excel

Note: only if you have numeric labels, empty cell A1 before you create the area chart. By doing this, Excel does not recognize the numbers in column A as a data series and automatically places these numbers on the horizontal (category) axis. After creating the chart, you can enter the text Year into cell A1 if you like.