How to Add a Shadow to a Chart in Excel

1. Start Microsoft Excel and open an existing workbook from your files that contains a chart to which you would like to add a shadow.
2. Select the chart you would like to add a shadow to by clicking on it with your mouse. The chart will be surrounded by a light blue outline when it is selected.
3. Choose the 'Format' tab at the top of the Excel screen to show the formatting options that you can apply to your selected chart. Locate the 'Shape Styles' section of the 'Format' ribbon.
4. Click the small half box and arrow button that lies on the 'Shape Styles' title bar on the lower right corner. This will open the 'Format Chart Area' dialog box.
5. Select 'Shadow' from the left side of the 'Format Chart Area' dialog box to display the shadow settings you can add to the selected chart.
6. Use the 'Preset' drop-down menu to choose a preset shadow from Excel. You can change the color of the shadow by selecting a new color from the 'Color' drop-down menu. The settings for the shadow can be changed using the 'Transparency,' 'Size,' 'Blur,' 'Angle' and 'Distance' sliders.
7. Click the 'Close' button to close the 'Format Chart Area' dialog box and return to your chart, which is now highlighted with a shadow.