Charts x Axis

[HelpMe1]

Hi,
I’ve created a chart that details flow rate for every sporadic reading that was taken. This has charted well and details what I need it to. However, I’m having real problems formatting the x-axis (Date & time) which is taken from two separate columns. The problem I have is that I have lots of data which is required in the graph but I want to edit the x axis so that the date and time only shows say every 6 hours.

At the moment the amount of data means the x axis is unreadable as there is a date and time for each reading and the readings aren’t taken at regular intervals. I’ve tried editing the min and max in chart settings but because its date and time it has no effect.

Not sure if I’ve explained that well enough but basically I want to set an x axis that has date and time but so the min is set to 6 hours but all the data inbetween is still shown.

To summarise, x axis = date and time (only four days) and y axis equals flow rate at those increments. I’m hoping this is a simple presentation change which can show the time as : 0:00, 06:00, 12:00, 18:00 etc even though none of the flow readings are triggered at those exact times.

This is my first post and I’m amateurish at best on excel so please step any instructions as if it was for a child/dog to follow J

Thanks in advance!

 

[Andrew Poulsom]

Welcome to MrExcel.

In a spare column enter a formula that returns the data and time, eg A2+B2, and format as dd/mm/yyyy hh:mm. Change the Chart type to XY(Scatter) and use that column for the X Axis. Then right click the X Axis, choose Format Axis and set the Major Unit to 0.25. You may also need to set the Minimum and Maximum.