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This is what the x-axis of my graph currently looks like (Excel 2010):

enter image description here

The dates are in the format YYYY-MM-DD, but as you can see month and date are chopped off. I tried resizing (the dots at the corners look like resizing handles), but it seems you can't do that. Selecting a smaller font also reduces the height.

How can I show the dates completely?

2 Answers 2

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No, you can't resize the axes. But you can resize the plot area. Click in the main plot (or select 'Plot Area' from the dropdown in the 'Chart Tools' ribbon tab). You should be able to make it a little smaller to accommodate your axis.

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  • Better yet, resizing the chart area fixed the axis, thanks! (There are ten settings for silly options like "shadow, glow and soft edges", but none for essentials like resizing. Typically Microsoft, shall we say? Also, why show resizing handles that don't work?)
    – stevenvh
    Mar 27, 2013 at 13:45
  • You can also rotate the labels so they're at an angle, which will reduce the vertical space needed for them. Using a narrow font and/or smaller point size also helps.
    – fixer1234
    Jan 8, 2017 at 3:49
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I have just solved this issue by cutting all words longer then around 15 characters up into smaller words. I think the issue is that Excel can't figure out how to separate long words into short words by itself, which then causes letters to overlap. To stop this Excel changes the angel of your axis, and then cuts of the end of row-title.

To clarify: My problem was specifically that i couldn't get my axis-titles/row-titles to fit on my axis. I wanted excel to write them horizontally, but Excel refused. I found out that the problem was i had words that were too long. I shortened them, and it worked.

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  • 1
    This is an answer to a different problem. The dates on the X-axis are only 10 characters ...
    – DavidPostill
    Jan 3, 2017 at 21:43
  • If you have a new question, please ask it by clicking the Ask Question button. Include a link to this question if it helps provide context. - From Review
    – Burgi
    Jan 8, 2017 at 1:34
  • @Burgi: He doesn't have a new question; he thinks he's answering the question.  And maybe he does know how to answer the question, but he just isn't explaining it clearly. Jan 8, 2017 at 2:23

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