How to Rotate X-Axis Labels & More in Excel Graphs

Yes, rotating the text in our label and axis adds a bit of style. However, when creating a graph or chart in Excel, the orientation of the labels on the x-axis can be crucial to the readability and overall effectiveness of the data visualization. In some cases, the default orientation of the labels may be too crowded or difficult to read. So rotating them can help to alleviate this issue.

How to Rotate Labels in X-axis

1. Highlight and Right-Click x-axis the graph.
2. Go to and Select to the “Format”.
3. In the Format Axis pane, under “Axis Options”, click third icon from the left(Size and Properties).
4. Under the Alignment section, in “Text Direction”, enter the angle you want.

How to Rotate Other Labels on Your Graph

This is just as simple as before. Now that you have the fundamental steps on how to rotate the labels on the x-axis, you can easily. You just need to follow the instructions that you did in the previous section.

1. Highlight and Right-click the labels on your graph
2. Click Format Data Lables
3. In the Format Data Labels Pane, Click the third icon from the left. (Size and Properties)
4. Under Alignment, enter the angle you desire in Text Direction.