There are two other ways to open the task pane. The Format Task pane stays open until you manually close the window. You can also select a chart element first, then use the keyboard shortcut Control + 1.įor example, if I select the data bars in this chart, then type Control + 1, the Format Task Pane will open with with the data series options selected. This will open the Format Task Pane with Chart Options selected. The easiest way to display the Format Task Pane is to double-click on a chart. The main idea behind the Format Task pane is to provide a more complete set of controls to format things like charts without obscuring the worksheet below. Previously, this sort of formatting was done with the Format dialog box. The Format Task Pane was added in Excel 2013 and provides detailed controls for most chart elements.
This video takes a look at the Format Task Pane, a formatting control added in Excel 2013 to format and configure chart elements.
