Changing Chart Types in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac

Once you insert a chart on your PowerPoint slide, you can enhance it by applying a new style, selecting different chart elements and by changing the position of elements such as the Legend, etc. Other than these options, you can also change the type of the chart altogether. PowerPoint 2011 for Mac provides all basic chart types such as Column, Bar, Line, Pie, etc. (see Figure 1), and also some advanced charts like Radar, Surface, Bubble, Doughnut, etc. (see Figure 2). Together, all these chart types cater for almost every kind of graphical data representation.

Figure 1: Bar, Column, and Pie Chart Types

Figure 2: Bubble, Surface, and Radar Chart Types

To change a chart type from one to another, you first need to have a chart in your presentation. Learn how to insert a chart in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac.

Now, follow these steps to change the chart type in PowerPoint 2011 for Mac:

1. Select the chart, as shown in Figure 3, below. As you can see, we have selected a Column chart.
2. 
   Figure 3: Column chart selected
2. Right-click (or ⌘+Click) the selected chart, and from the contextual menu that appears, select the Change Chart Type option as shown in Figure 4, below. When you right-click (or ⌘+Click), make sure that you have selected the entire chart, and not just a particular chart element.
3. 
   Figure 4: Change Chart Type option to be selected
4. Alternatively, you can just click the Charts tab of the Ribbon as shown highlighted in red within Figure 5, below. Both of these options will bring up the Change Chart Type group within the Charts tab as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 5, below.
5. 
   Figure 5: Charts tab of the Ribbon selected
Note: Make sure that your chart is selected all the time. If not, you will end up inserting a new chart overlapping the existing chart rather than changing the chart type.
3. This group includes several buttons that represent various chart types. Clicking any of these buttons will open a gallery displaying a collection of chart variants of that particular chart type. Click on any of those buttons depending upon the type to which you want to change your selected chart. In Figure 6 you can see that we have chosen Stacked Cone chart within Bar chart type (surrounded by yellow rectangle within Figure 6, below).
4. 
   Figure 6: Stacked Cone Chart selected within Bar Chart gallery
4. This will change the selected chart into the new type chart based on your selection. In Figure 7, you can see that the Column chart selected earlier has been changed to a Stacked Cone Bar chart.
5. 
   Figure 7: Selected chart changed to Stacked Cone Bar chart
5. Save your presentation.