How to Add Excel Add-ins for Creating Amazing Visualizations?

It is observed that over 50% of Excel users don’t use add-ins to save time or make their lives a little easier.

And we can’t blame them. Because they might be scared of coding or any technical complications. Here, we will talk about ChartExpo Add-in which is very easy to configure to create amazing visualizations.

Let’s dive in.

Table of Content:

1. How to Add Excel Add-in: ChartExpo?
2. How to access ChartExpo Add-in in Excel?
3. Let’s Create Data Story With Excel Add-in ChartExpo:

Video Tutorial:

How to Add Excel Add-in: ChartExpo?

Note: If you are using excel version of 2013 make sure to install office service pack 1.

There are two ways to configure ChartExpo Excel Add-in:

• Directly from Microsoft App Store:

i. You can click here to install the ChartExpo add-in for your Excel application.

ii. Following page will appear in your browser, you can click on “Get it now” button to proceed with installation steps.

iii. Log in with your Microsoft account or create a new account.

iv. Now you will see a window which will ask you to enter your credentials.

v. After log in, another ChartExpo window will appear. Here you can provide the required information and click on “Continue” button. It will automatically add ChartExpo dd-in in your Excel application.

Now you can click on “Open in Excel” button to continue using this Add-in.

• Install From Excel Application

i. To get started, open your Excel application.

ii. Open the worksheet and click on the “Insert” menu.

iii. You’ll see the “My Apps”

iv. In office Add-ins window, click on “Store” and search for ChartExpo on my Apps Store.

v. Click on “Add” button to install ChartExpo in your Excel.

Once your ChartExpo is successfully installed now below you will learn how you can access and use it in Excel.

How to access ChartExpo Add-in in Excel?

• Click on the “Insert” menu on top toolbar.
• You’ll see the My Apps option as highlighted below.

• Select ChartExpo for Excel and click on the “Insert”

• The add-in will be added to the Excel application, as shown below but it will ask you to log in to continue.
• You can log in with your Microsoft account or Google account or create a new account in ChartExpo and start using the add-in.

• You’re only required to log in for the first time. Next time, ChartExpo won’t ask for log in again.

• Once ChartExpo is loaded. By default you will see list view of charts.

• Click on Category and you can access 6 different categories of charts by clicking on Category.

Voila! Your ChartExpo add-in is ready to use in your Excel application. You can explore all the charts available in this library and convert your data into amazing visualizations.

Why ChartExpo is a Favorite Library for 20,000+ Users?

ChartExpo is an Excel add-in that’s amazingly easy to use, especially when working with complex data.

We recommend this app because it has a free trial, and most importantly, it has advanced charts. Yes, it comes loaded with charts you’ll never see in your Excel, such as Sankey Diagrams, Word Cloud, and Gauge Chart, among others.

Its ultra-friendly user interface (UI) needs no video tutorial or a written manual to make its usage easier. And this means its learning curve is absolutely short. Yes, you read that right.

Look no further if you want to boost your productivity through the roof or save hours whenever working with complex data.

The last time we checked, ChartExpo had over 50-plus advanced charts you can use to create irresistible business reports and data stories.

And it gets better! This tool is incredibly light. So your Excel won’t crash or slow down, even when working with large data sets.

It creates a visual appeal: As humans are notorious for having an ever-shrinking attention span, ChartExpo can go a long way in communicating your results which boil down to creating a visual appeal to the end-user. The reality is that clients not only want to interact with hard numbers but also need to visualize the success story behind the results. ChartExpo helps users in combining elements of data, information, knowledge, and insights into a visual format that can be understandable by everyone.

Identify Trends Faster: The majority of human communication is visual as the human brain processes graphics magnitudes faster than it does text. Direct manipulation of analyzed data via ChartExpo makes it easy to understand and act on valuable information.

Identify Relationships More Effectively: ChartExpo enables users to identify otherwise overlooked cause-and-effect relationships throughout definable timeframes. This is especially useful in identifying how daily operations affect an organization’s goals.

Useful Data Storytelling: Humans best understand a data story when its development over time is presented in a clear, linear fashion. ChartExpo helps users to highlight relevant information, filter, and change the parameters promotes better understanding of the data by presenting multiple viewpoints of the data.

Simplify Complex Data: A large data set with a complex data story may present itself visually as a chaotic, intertwined hairball. ChartExpo can help untangle and make these messes of data more manageable, and can help users glean better insights.

Faster and easier access to important business insights:

ChartExpo can help businesses boost their ability to seek the information they need anytime, anywhere. And with the right solution, these businesses will be able to do so more efficiently than their competitors.

Visualizing your data helps quickly identify any errors in the data. If the data tends to suggest the wrong actions, ChartExpo help identify erroneous data when you try to visualize your data.

Let’s head to the data storytelling examples using our graph add-in for Excel: ChartExpo.

Let’s Create Data Story With Excel Add-in ChartExpo:

There are many charts available in this library. We will pick “Sankey Diagram” to convert your data into amazing visualization story.

Sankey Diagram

Sankey Diagrams (also known as Energy Flow Diagrams) are charts used to visualize data with flow-like attributes, such as energy flow, revenue flow, etc.

In other words, these charts depict the flow from one set of values to another. The widths of its arrows are proportional to the flow rate.

You can use this visualization to communicate sources and uses of the costs, materials, and resources represented.

Let’s take a look at an example with Sankey Charts.

Imagine you want to create a report data story of energy generation and usage of a country. You’ve collected secondary data from the country’s only power generation company. You intend to extract insights, such as the amount of energy wasted, domestic usage percentage, etc.

Let’s use the table below for our scenario.

Energy Type	Main Source	Source Type	Energy Source	Usage	End-User	Megawatt
Agricultural waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Losses in process	Lost	5
Agricultural waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Industry	7.3
Agricultural waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – commercial	5.1
Agricultural waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – homes	3.7
Agricultural waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – commercial	4.9
Agricultural waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – homes	2
Other waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Losses in process	Lost	7.2
Other waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Industry	5.4
Other waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – commercial	6.7
Other waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – homes	4.8
Other waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – commercial	7.4
Other waste	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Lighting & appliances – homes	2.5
Marina algae	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Losses in process	Lost	0.7
Marina algae	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Industry	0.5
Marina algae	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – commercial	0.9
Marina algae	Bio-conversion	Solid	Thermal generation	Electricity grid	Heating and cooling – homes	0.5

Follow the simple and easy steps below to visualize your data using “Sankey Chart” in ChartExpo add-in for Excel.

• Click on Add-ins> ChartExpo > Insert > Sankey Chart

• Select data which available in the
• Click on Create Chart From Selection as shown.

• Your “Sankey Chart” should look like the one below.

You can add header, give different color to nodes, and change different properties of chart by clicking on “Edit Chart” button.

Now you will see pencil icons on the screen you can click on any icon to explore and change the properties accordingly.

FAQs:

How do you add Excel Add-ins?

• How to add Excel add-in step-by-step
• Click the File tab> Options> Add-Ins category.
• In the Manage box, click Excel Add-ins, and then click Go.
• Select the check box next to the add-in you want to activate in the Add-Ins Available box and click

What is a Microsoft Excel add-in?

An add-in is an application that increases more features and options to your Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. By providing additional functions, an add-in increases the power and reliability of the tool. Remember to enable your add-in for it to activate when Excel is started.

How do I enable add-ins in Excel 2016?

• Open a new Microsoft Excel worksheet.
• Select File > Options. When the Excel Options dialog box appears, click Add-Ins.
• In the Manage drop-down list, click Excel Add-ins and click Go.
• How to add Microsoft Excel add-ins made easy (using the steps above)

Wrap Up

Like we said, using graph add-ins for Excel will save you hours every day and supercharge your productivity. Besides, you’ll access pretty advanced charts and other functions you’ll never find in your beloved spreadsheet app.

How to add Excel add-ins does not have to be a struggle or even time-intensive. This blog is full of tips and strategies you should steal if you’re yet to get started with add-ins.

The Excel add-in we recommend to our readers is ChartExpo because it has a super-friendly user interface. Besides, it produces charts that are incredibly insightful and easy to read, even for non-technical audiences.

So whether you’re looking to create a compelling data story or get the most out of your data, ChartExpo add-in has everything you need.

Do you want to take your spreadsheet game to the next level?

Try ChartExpo today to supercharge your productivity and save a ton of time every day.