In the world of statistics, cumulative frequency is important. We use cumulative frequency to understand how many events have occurred under specific criteria.

Cumulative means increasing in quantity. So, for example, we want to know how many events have occurred under a certain criterion. In order to do that, we can just calculate the cumulative frequency. And this will tell us the result.

Now, can we do this in excel? Sure, we can.

So, you might question, how to make a cumulative graph in excel?

Well, we need two things. Class interval or category and cumulative frequency. Select these two columns. Go to the “Insert” ribbon, and click on the “Insert Scatter (X, Y) or bubble graph under the “graphs” section. Or a shortcut, press “Alt + N + D” and then select any “Scatter” graph.

Easy, right?

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. We will learn more about making cumulative graphs in detail. Tag along to learn more.

There are basically two types.

We can easily calculate them both. There is already an article about how to find cumulative frequency in excel.

You can read this post to have a better idea.

Also, there are two types of data.

So, we are going to learn how to make cumulative graph in excel for

Before we get into the main section, we need two things.

Now, let’s start with our first section.

As we already know, we are going to learn how to make a cumulative graph in excel with less than method.

In “Less than method”, there is a “Category or Class Interval” and “Cumulative Frequency”.

Formula for Cumulative Frequency in Less method is =

For the first row = Frequency in that row

For the second row = Frequency in that row + Previous cumulative frequency

For the third row = Frequency in that row + Previous cumulative frequency

For the fourth row = Frequency in that row + Previous cumulative frequency

For the fifth row = Frequency in that row + Previous cumulative frequency

So, after calculating the cumulative frequency in less than method, we can move to the next section.

In this section, we are going to make a cumulative graph for grouped data with less than method.

And we can easily make a cumulative graph in 2 steps.

Step 1: Select the data. In the sheet, we can see that we have 3 columns. Those columns contain different kinds of products in the “Products” column.

And the remaining 2 columns contain the “Frequency” and “Cumulative Frequency” columns.

In order to make a cumulative graph, we need to select the product and cumulative frequency column. So, we are going to select these columns.

Step 2: Insert the graph.

This is the part where we insert the cumulative graph.

After selecting the columns, go to the “Insert” ribbon. There you will find an option named “Insert Scatter (X, Y) or bubble graph” under the “graphs” section.

Click on the drop down menu. There you will find 5 different options for inserting scatter graphs.

Those are:

You can choose any graph option from there. I personally prefer “Scatter with Smooth Lines and Markers”, so I am going to choose this.

Or we can use a shortcut.

Shortcut to making a cumulative graph in excel is,

Press “Alt + N + D” and then select any “Scatter” graph.

So, we are done with our first section.

Let’s dive into the next one.

Now, in this section, for ungrouped data, we don’t have a category. Instead, we have class intervals.

As we can see, in “Column A” there is a list of marks for a group of students.

We already set two class intervals. Then we calculated frequency and cumulative frequency.

So, let’s go to our first step.

Step 1: Select the data.

In this part, we need to select the data range for making a cumulative graph for ungrouped data.

Select the “Upper Limit/Marks” and “Cumulative Frequency (Less Than)” column.

Step 2: Insert the graph.

As we did before, go to the “Insert” ribbon. There you will find an option named “Insert Scatter (X, Y) or bubble graph” under the “graphs” section.

Click on the drop-down menu. There you will find 5 different options for inserting scatter graphs.

Those are:

I am going to choose “Scatter with Smooth Lines and Markers”. But you can choose any graph option from there.

Or we can use a shortcut.

Shortcut to making a cumulative graph in excel is,

Press “Alt + N + D” and then select any “Scatter” graph.

That section was easy, right?

Let’s move to the next section.

In this part, we are going to learn how to make a cumulative graph in excel for “More than method”.

The formula for Cumulative Frequency in More than the method is =

For the first row = Total Frequency

For the second row = Previous Cumulative Frequency – Frequency in the first row

For the third row = Previous Cumulative Frequency – Frequency in the second row

For the fourth row = Previous Cumulative Frequency – Frequency in the third row

For the fifth row = Previous Cumulative Frequency – Frequency in the fourth row

After calculating the cumulative frequency for more than one method, we move to the next section.

In grouped data, we also need a category and cumulative frequency for more than one method.

Step 1: Select the data.

We are going to select the “Product” and “Cumulative frequency” columns.

Step 2: Insert the graph.

After selecting the columns, go to the “Insert” ribbon. There you will find an option named “Insert Scatter (X, Y) or bubble graph” under the “graphs” section.

Click on the drop down menu. There you will find 5 different options for inserting scatter graphs. You can choose any graph option from there. But the other options are:

All have different elements with them.

Or we can use a shortcut.

Shortcut to making a cumulative graph in excel is,

Press “Alt + N + D” and then select any “Scatter” graph.

Let’s go to our last section of making a cumulative graph.

In this section, we need the “Lower Limit” and “Cumulative Frequency (More Than)” columns.

So, our first step.

Step 1: Select the data.

We are going to select the “Lower Limit” and “Cumulative Frequency (More Than)” columns.

Step 2: Insert the graph.

After selecting the columns, go to the “Insert” ribbon. There you will find an option named “Insert Scatter (X, Y) or bubble graph” under the “graphs” section.

Click on the drop-down menu. There you will find 5 different options for inserting scatter graphs.

Those are:

I am going to choose “Scatter with Smooth Lines and Markers”. But you can choose any graph option from there.

Or we can use a shortcut.

Shortcut to making a cumulative graph in excel is,

Press “Alt + N + D” and then select any “Scatter” graph.

That was all. But hey, you can always format a cumulative graph in many ways. Let’s see how.

In the next sections, we will discuss all the options to format a cumulative graph in excel.

You can format a graph’s look and feels from 4 different options.

We can format a cumulative graph in excel from the graph design ribbon. When you click on a graph, it opens two more ribbon options. One of them is “chart design”.

From this ribbon, you can format the graph with a range of options.

Styles for graphs can be changed. You may modify the graph layouts in Excel by selecting from a variety of options from the drop-down menu.

The background, color, components, etc. change automatically when you choose a new choice or style out from style options.

This is an additional option for changing how the entire graph appears and feels.

It will descend with a variety of choices and color schemes.

Any color scheme is available to you there.

One of the most crucial formatting options for the graphs is this one. Data labels and graph titles can also be added. Legends, etc., from this area.

As in this graph, we may alter the data labels to view all the numbers or axes if we so like. From there, we may even modify the legend’s name. even include one.

When formatting a graph, this is Excel’s most useful feature.

Go to the “Chart Design Ribbon” and select “Quick Layout” from the drop-down menu.

A variety of rapid layouts with various choices and styles will be displayed.

This option could enable you to rapidly give your graph the appropriate feel and appearance. The legend name, title, and unique feature for each graph are altered with each layout choice.

So, when you choose an option from there, your graph’s general appearance will alter.

The most significant change is that you won’t have to add pieces to your graph one at a time using the add graph elements option.

You can also format a graph from the “Format” ribbon.

Click on the graph. It will open two new ribbons. Click on the “Format” ribbon.

There you will find options to format your graph. The most important option is to change the alignment.

The “Page Layout” ribbon also allows you to alter the graph’s overall appearance and feel.

From this ribbon, you may alter the font, color, or theme of the entire sheet.

Simply select the “Page Layout” ribbon. You may format your graph using the “Themes,” “Colors,” and “Fonts” choices there.

A box labeled “Format graph Area” will appear on the right side of the screen when you double-click the graph.

There are several formatting choices for your graph. You may completely alter the appearance of your graph.

Here are possibilities for formatting the cumulative graph at a higher level. Play with the available choices.

To summarize, we can make a cumulative graph in excel in 4 types.

And we can make them in simply 2 steps.

In this post, we learned how to make a cumulative graph in excel. I hope this article helped you solve your problem.

Best of luck to you!

Hi, this is Ahsanul Haque. I’m currently pursuing my undergrad in marketing. I started learning Excel entirely out of passion. Completed a few courses, and learned to solve Excel-related problems. I am just here to help you out with your excel problems and also learn from you. Let me know your excel related issues in the comment box and see If I am able to help you. Welcome to this journey of learning excel and best luck to you.