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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteA box-and-whisker chart summarizes a numerical distribution using quartiles: the box spans the middle 50% of values, a line marks the median, and whiskers show additional spread according to the charting tool’s rule. In modern Excel, create one with Insert > Insert Statistic Chart > Box and Whisker. For comparisons, check medians, box size, whiskers and outliers—not box size alone.
What a box-and-whisker chart shows
The box extends from the first quartile (Q1) to the third quartile (Q3), so it contains the middle 50% of observations. The line inside the box is the median, or 50th percentile. The distance from Q1 to Q3 is the interquartile range (IQR), a measure of spread in the central half of the data.
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Whiskers extend beyond the box, but their endpoints depend on the software and selected rule. They do not automatically indicate the literal minimum and maximum. Values outside the whiskers may appear as individual outlier points. Microsoft describes Excel’s chart as showing distribution in quartiles and highlighting the mean and outliers; Google Cloud describes the quartile-based box and the remaining spread represented by whiskers (Microsoft Excel; Google Cloud Looker Studio).
Create a box-and-whisker chart in Excel
These steps apply to Microsoft 365, Excel 2024 and supported earlier releases with the native chart type. Arrange each group’s numeric observations in its own column or series, and give each column a clear category label.
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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →- Prepare the data: Put the observations for each group in a separate column, with category names in the header row.
- Select the data: Include the observations and their labels.
- Insert the chart: Choose Insert > Insert Statistic Chart > Box and Whisker. If the categories and series are oriented incorrectly, use the chart’s switch-row-and-column option.
- Adjust the display: Right-click a data series and choose Format Data Series. Depending on your Excel version, you can adjust gap width, show inner points or outlier points, show mean markers or a mean line, and choose the median calculation method.
Excel’s inclusive median method includes the median in the lower and upper halves when the number of observations is odd; the exclusive method leaves it out. This choice can affect the quartiles, particularly in small datasets. Microsoft’s instructions and available options are documented in its box-and-whisker chart guide.
Make the chart in Excel 2013
Excel 2013 does not have the native box-and-whisker chart template. Microsoft documents a manual workaround: calculate the summary statistics, build a stacked-column chart from the quartile segments, hide the base series, and use error bars for whiskers.
- For each group, calculate the minimum and quartiles. Microsoft’s method uses
MIN(cell range)andQUARTILE.INC(cell range, 1),QUARTILE.INC(cell range, 2)andQUARTILE.INC(cell range, 3)for Q1, median and Q3. - Calculate the differences between the minimum, Q1, median and Q3 that will form the stacked-column segments.
- Insert a stacked-column chart using those segment values, then switch rows and columns if needed so each group appears as a category.
- Hide the base series so the visible columns begin at Q1, then add error bars to draw the whiskers.
The construction and formatting require more manual work than the native chart. Microsoft provides the Excel 2013 box-plot workaround.
Make a box plot in Python with Matplotlib
Matplotlib’s matplotlib.pyplot.boxplot(x, ...) creates a box plot from data. The whis parameter controls whisker extent. With a numeric value, whiskers reach the most extreme observations within that multiple of the IQR from Q1 and Q3. Other options include showmeans for mean markers, showfliers for points beyond the whiskers, notch for a notched box, and patch_artist and styling dictionaries for appearance.
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Because the whisker rule is configurable, check the whis setting when comparing Matplotlib output with Excel or another program. The Matplotlib boxplot reference defines the parameters and behavior.
Use a box plot in Looker Studio
Google Cloud’s Looker Studio documentation says the data must be separated into quartiles for a boxplot chart. The visualization displays lower and upper bounds, the median, Q1 and Q3. Its box represents the middle 50% of values, with whiskers representing the remaining spread. This chart is useful for comparing distributions across categories when the underlying data is prepared in the required quartile format. See Google Cloud’s boxplot chart reference.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to read and compare the boxes
Compare groups on the same scale and make the units and category definitions clear. A box plot is a compact distribution summary; it does not show every observation or explain why values differ.
- Median: Compare the lines inside the boxes to see which group has the higher or lower middle value.
- Box size: Compare the Q1-to-Q3 span. A wider or taller box means more variability in the middle 50% of observations.
- Whiskers: Compare their lengths to assess spread beyond the central half, while keeping the chart’s whisker rule in mind.
- Outliers: Look for points beyond the whiskers and note whether they lie above or below the main range.
- Asymmetry: A median positioned off-center in the box, or noticeably different whisker lengths, can suggest skew in the distribution.
A narrow box paired with long whiskers indicates that central values are relatively concentrated while the tails extend farther. A broad box indicates greater variability among the middle half. These are visual descriptions of quartiles and spread, not explanations of the causes of the pattern (OpenStax on box plots).
Why whiskers and outliers differ between tools
Charting tools may use different whisker rules, and quartiles can also differ with the calculation method. One common convention is Tukey’s 1.5×IQR fences: the lower fence is Q1 − 1.5 × IQR and the upper fence is Q3 + 1.5 × IQR. Values beyond a fence are treated as outside the whisker range and may be plotted individually. Statistics Canada illustrates the upper-fence calculation in its box-and-whisker example.
Matplotlib lets you set whisker behavior through whis; Excel exposes chart and quartile-calculation options. When two charts disagree, compare the underlying observations, quartile method and whisker settings before treating the difference as a data error. State the tool and rule when publishing or sharing a chart so readers can interpret its whiskers correctly (Matplotlib; Microsoft Excel; Statistics Canada).
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