I always select data from the top down, when I go to make a chart.
I never think to hit the Ctrl + Down Arrow first, so that I can select the range while leaving the active cell at the top.
I always end up with a chart waaay down at the bottom of that very long selection, where my active cell is.
I never want it all the way down there.
I always select the wayward chart, then move it gingerly up towards the Headings bar, in the vain hope that Excel will go into scroll mode, and let me release the chart where it belongs…at the top.
I never seem to hit that magic sweet spot, where Excel starts scrolling quicker than a crawl.
I always curse, then cut the chart, hit Ctrl + Up Arrow, then paste it up where it belongs.
I never remember this monkey business the next time I go to make a chart.
I always hope that MS will sort out basic usability stuff like this in the next release.
I never hold my breath.
Amen to that.
Even worse, take the situation when you have an existing chart. You right click it and change the range of one of the series. Where does Excel leave you when you click OK? At the bottom of that new range. Never mind the fact that you were looking at the chart.
This really is crap. Why the hell isn’t the chart selected? It was before…
Oh how I cherish those blissful moments where I curse Excel because of things like that…
I thought it was just me.
Hi Jeff. Too many late nights perhaps. A Forrest Gump quote comes to mind for that first point, “Stu-pid is as stu-pid does”. :)
I don’t think Jeff’s qualified to make a chart :)
A couple of Ctrl+periods before creating the chart works wonders for getting the focus back to the top. When I complained during the beta about this problem to Scott R on the Excel team, they suggested using Ctrl+X, Ctrl+Home, Ctrl+C to get the chart back at the top.
Right, that’s it. Chart-related blog post coming over at Chandoo.org in my defense. You’ll love the title, Jon. See you there at 08:00 GMT Monday.
Bill: that’s a neat shortcut. I’ve never used that one. Hours of fun when you select a large range and push it rapidly to get a nice yoyo effect!
MS’s workaround is…well…a workaround. And as per my comment above, then there’s the ridiculous thing that happens when you select an existing chart and amend one of the series via the Select Data dialog (Right Click => Select Data), where Excel leaves you at the bottom of the range when you click OK. Ctrl + Period doesn’t do it’s magic while you’re in that dialog box. Surely this stuff is minor to fix in the grand scheme of things…
Same as that!
Amen.
New 2014 goal, try to overcome some of the “always”.
Oh how I relate to this. Plus one about always spending too much time formatting a pivot chart, then wanting to change the data being graphed.