Save a chart as a template: Use the template for current or new charts

- [Voiceover] On this worksheet called chart data, we're seeing a number of different charts, all based on the same data. Let's face it, this is overkill, we wouldn't have this many in a real life situation. But let's imagine that you have a favorite amongst these various options here. What if you like the chart to the right, this is the one that has a blue border and a green inner section here for plot area. You like that a lot, you'd like to be able to use that format at other times, maybe you want to convert the chart below it to have that kind of a look, or the chart to the right, or in different worksheets, when you're creating a new chart, for example, you might want to have that same look.

You can right click any chart, and potentially save it as a template, give it a name, Excel will save this template in a special location, on your computer, I would suggest that when you name it, include some part of the description of it, it doesn't have to be very long, necessarily, I'm going to type blue border, green bar chart. You don't necessarily have to include the word chart, there it's probably implied, so I'll take that off. And the bars aren't really green, but the background is, so whatever you want to name it, something like that, and save.

Now, in the future, we can use that in two different ways, first of all, we can take any existing chart, it doesn't have to be on this worksheet, it can be on a separate worksheet, we can right click any chart, and change chart type, and in the change chart type dialogue box, we've got a choice down the left hand side called templates, that's the only template I've created. Simply click it, click okay, or possibly double click it, and I've changed this chart into that look. Well you might recall it did have a title earlier that was centered, now it's off to the left side.

And you see the other things that is has done. I'll do it again on the sheet to the right, now it's pretty obvious that I wouldn't be doing this on the same worksheet most of the time. Once again, trying this on another chart, the one just to the right, it's got a tan background, orange background, right click, change chart type, templates, there it is, double click this time, and we've made the change there as well too. There could be other times when you are creating a chart. I'm highlighting some data here, I only want a chart for the first three months, I've got my data highlighted, I'll go to the insert tab and choose recommended charts.

And then click all charts, there's templates again, there's my choice, double click, and we've created a brand new chart showing just three months with that same kind of layout. After seeing the title down the left hand side here, I might want to reconsider that layout and change it possibly at some point. So once you have a template, you can use it to convert existing charts into that same look, you can also create a new chart by referring to one of your templates. Somewhere down the line you might want to say, well I want this to be the default type, well you can't actually make the colors that come with this be the default type.

Keep in mind if you prefer, for example, to have a bar chart as your default type. Default type means the kind of chart that will appear when you've selected data and pressed either alt+F1 or F11. Keep in mind, if you're highlighting data to go into a chart and you're in a hurry, you can press the F11 key to get a chart on a new sheet as I'm doing right now, or, going back to the data, same data highlighted, if I want a chart right here on the worksheet, alt+F1. The default type is clustered column, unless you've changed it, let's say I want stacked bar to be my default.

So I've got my data highlighted, and we can actually approach this from a number of different angles, if you've got a chart already selected you can simply right click and go to change chart type, you can do it that way, or you can do it from the starting point of recommended charts as you're creating a chart. But when you come out to this dialogue box, change chart type or even recommended charts, click all charts, find the chart type that you want to be the default, for example, stacked bar is right there, I'm going to right click and set as default chart.

Click okay, now I did change the current one, I didn't necessarily have to do that, I could change it back if I want to. But what does that mean in the future? Anytime we create a chart with either of the two quick methods, F11 or alt+F1, the chart we're about to see on the screen is going to be a stacked bar chart, alt+F1, and there it is. And we might want to change it back, either by selecting any chart and right clicking or go right back to change chart type, we want to change our default back to column. There it is right there, right click, set as default.

Now somewhere down the line you might say, I don't want those templates anymore. I've got one defined in my example here, but let's say I no longer need that template, once again, we can approach this from a number of different ways. Usually, you can just go into change chart type, by way of right click, you also see it on the menu when the design tab is active on a selected chart, you'll see it there as well, you could go down that path, and if we click recommended charts, all charts, templates, bottom of the screen we see managed templates, and we can simply click, and there could be many of these of course, I want to get rid of this one, I'll just press delete.

So the template is no longer there. So it's easy to create templates, here's a reminder as to how to do that again, I'm going to click on a different worksheet in this workbook here. To create a chart template, simply right click a chart and select save as template, create a new chart based on the template, simply select data, click the recommended charts icon on the insert tab, click all charts, then templates, and then pick the template that you want to apply. And again, applying a chart template to an existing chart, simply right click a chart and select change chart type, click all charts then templates, and then click the template you want.

And we saw last, deleting a chart template, simply right click on existing chart, change chart type, all charts, templates, managed templates, delete the template you no longer need. So they're very handy at times, sometimes you have a certain look you'd like to be able to use at different times. And you might be the kind of person that has four or five different templates that you use frequently. They're easy to use and it makes chart creation fast.