The X-axis, which is the horizontal axis, on most Excel charts does not use numeric intervals like the vertical Y-axis does. The X-axis contains either strings of text or a date under each set of ...

The interval between the gridlines in an Excel chart is typically blank, but you can highlight the intervals using an alternating pattern by changing the formatting for the gridlines themselves ...

When the relationship between the charted entities is less important than the individual entities, try using these two chart techniques to highlight important details in Microsoft Excel.