How to Add a Trendline in Excel?

Excel trendline is a great way to visualize the general trend in your data. A trendline also called “a line of best fit,” is an analytical tool used to visualize and represent the behavior of a data set to see if there’s a pattern. With a trendline, you can gain deeper insight into your data at a glance, which makes them popular among investors, sales professionals, traders, and other professionals.

You can use them to get averages, notice peaks and drops to make better decisions, or even predict what’s coming. It is straightforward to create Trendlines for your data. Microsoft Excel has made inserting a trend line very easy, especially with the newer versions of Excel charts.

In Excel, most charts allow trendlines except for pie, radar, 3-D, stacked charts, and other similar ones.

As stated earlier, there are 6 different types of trendlines:

1. Linear: From the name itself, this is a best-fit straight line usually used with simple linear data sets. Results are easy to interpret as they’re either increasing or decreasing at a steady rate.
2. Logarithmic: This one is commonly used when quick changes in the data are leveling out. It’s a best-fit curved line and uses negative and positive values.
3. Polynomial: A polynomial trendline is a curved line to visualize data fluctuations. The fluctuations are seen as a hill or valley in the trendline.
4. Power: A power trendline is another curve line used with data sets comparing values that increase at a specific rate. This trendline is only possible for positive values.
5. Exponential: An exponential trendline is also a curve valuable line for data sets with values that rise or fall at increasingly higher rates. You can’t use an exponential trendline with negative or zero values like a power trendline.
6. Moving Average: This trendline is helpful in forecasting through moving averages. This shows a clear pattern or trend.

In this risewindows article, we will guide you on how to add a trendline to Excel charts.

How to Add a Trendline in Microsoft Excel?

In Microsoft Excel, there are several methods available for adding a trendline. Here are those that are easy to use.

Using Chart Design Group

To add a Trendline in Excel using Chart Design Group, Follow these steps:-

Step 1. Firstly, open an existing Excel Worksheet or create a new one.

Step 2. Now, click on the Chart if you want to add a Trendline.

If you have not created any charts yet, fill the data in the cells you want to convert into charts, select them and then click the Insert button. Choose a chart from the Charts group you want to insert into your Excel Worksheet.

Step 3. Then, once you have a chart in Excel, click on it to select it. Click on the Chart Design tab in the menu bar to change the ribbon.

Step 4. After that, click the Add Chart Element button under the Charts Layout group.

Step 5. Then, select the Trendline option in the drop-down menu and choose an alternative such as Linear to add to your graph.

The Linear Trendline will add a straight line to the chart that shows the increase or decrease over the period.

So, if you want to change the type of trendline, select the chart and click on the Chart Design tab. Now, click the Add Chart Element button under the Charts Layout group and choose the Trendline option in the drop-down menu. Lastly, select a Trendline you want to add to your graph.

Through Right-click Menu

To add a Trendline on an Excel chart through right-clicking Menu, perform these steps:-

Step 1. Firstly, open your existing Excel Worksheet.

Step 2. Then, right-click on any candle in the chart and select the Add Trendline option in the menu.

Step 3. Once you’re done, the Format Trendline window will appear on the right. Here, you’ll notice Linear option is selected automatically. However, you also choose another option if required.

How to Format Trendline in Excel?

Once you have a chart in Excel with Trendline and you want to format it, follow these steps:-

Here, click on the chart, and some icons will appear on the right of it. These include chart elements, chart styles, and chart filters.

Chart Elements: This lets you show or hide Axes, Axis Titles, Chart titles, Data Labels, Data tables, Error Bars, Gridlines, Legend, and trendlines. Using this option, you can even change the trendline type.

Chart Styles: This allows you to change the style of the chart as well as the color.

Chart Filters: This lets you filter categories in the chart.

That’s it for the article.

I hope this post will be informative to you.

Good luck & keep growing, guys.