How to graph failures per month

[ScottInTexas]

I have a sheet of data. There are 24 columns of information, and 1051 rows. It is simply a flat file of failure records. Column A is a date column. There is a date for every failure. Sometimes there are several on the same day. So I want to line graph failures per month so in May there were 7, in February there were two. How do I graph this? When I select the values of Column A and select insert line chart, it put the dates on the Y axis and numbers on the X axis. I cannot switch the axes. The numbers on the X axis are 1 to 1051 in steps of 25. I don't know where they are coming from. So the graph will show there are more failures in May than any other month. Another line of interest would be the running average.

I would appreciate some guidance on this. The online stuff I have found does not fit my data.

Thanks,

 

[Dorcas]

On a separate tab:

A	B	C
1	Months	Errors
2	Jan-18	{=SUM(IF(MONTH(YOURSHEET!$A$2:$A$1051)=MONTH(A2),1,0))}
3 - 12	...
13	Dec-18	{=SUM(IF(MONTH(YOURSHEET!$A$2:$A$1051)=MONTH(A13),1,0))}

<tbody>
</tbody>

Then graph off of that.

2 notes:
The months is actually a date Jan 1, Feb 1, etc.
It's an array formula (you have to enter shift+control+enter for it to work).

 

[Dorcas]

On a separate tab:

	A	B
1	Months	Errors
2	Jan-18	{=SUM(IF(MONTH(YOURSHEET!$A$2:$A$1051)=MONTH(A2),1,0))}
3 - 12	...
13	Dec-18	{=SUM(IF(MONTH(YOURSHEET!$A$2:$A$1051)=MONTH(A13),1,0))}

<tbody>
</tbody>

Then graph off of that.

2 notes:
The months is actually a date Jan 1, Feb 1, etc.
It's an array formula (you have to enter shift+control+enter for it to work).

Oops, fixed cell references above.