We already customized the value axis, so let’s make some changes to the horizontal category axis.
First, let me point out that axis options are different depending on which axis throw in is selected.
With the vertical axis selected, we see value axis prefs.
When I go for the horizontal axis, we see category axis prefs.
Notice bounds have been set automatically based on the 5-year date range, and units are set to years.
If I temporarily switch to text, things change dramatically.
I’ll undo that.
First, I’ll change the labels to years using number formatting.
Just select custom, under Number.
That gives us years on the axis, but notice this somehow confuses the Unit tweaks.
To fix, just switch units to something else, then back again to 1 year.
So, now we can see some other problems.
The data starts in June so that’s where Excel has started the axis.
To make the year-based axis work better, I’ll set the start to January 1, 2012.
Now I can set the end date to January 1, 2018.
These changes shift the line to fit date range shown in the horizontal axis.
