Often you may want to add a horizontal line to a line graph in Excel to represent some threshold or limit.
This tutorial provides a step-by-step example of how to quickly add a horizontal line to any line graph in Excel.
Step 1: Enter the Data
First, let’s create the following dataset that shows the total sales made by some company during 20 consecutive years:
Step 2: Add Values for Horizontal Line
Next, we need to add a new column that contains values for the horizontal line to be placed in our line graph.
For example, suppose that the company has a sales goal of 100 total sales each year and we would like to place a horizontal line at y = 100 in our graph to represent this goal.
We can add the following column to our dataset that only contains the value 100 in each row:
Step 3: Insert Line Chart
Next, highlight the cell range B1:C21, then click the Insert tab along the top ribbon, then click the Line icon within the Charts group:
The following line chart will be created:
The blue line shows the actual sales each year and the orange line shows the sales goal for each year.
Step 4: Customize the Chart (Optional)
Lastly, feel free to add a title, add axis labels, and adjust the color and width of the lines to make the chart more aesthetically pleasing:
Note: If you would like to add multiple horizontal lines to a single chart, simply repeat this process using different y-values.
Additional Resources
The following tutorials explain how to perform other common operations in Excel:
How to Add Average Line to Bar Chart in Excel
How to Add a Horizontal Line to a Scatterplot in Excel
How to Add a Regression Line to a Scatterplot in Excel
