"Run-time Error 1004" when you make changes to legend entries in a chart in Excel

Symptoms

When you run a Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macro that uses the LegendEntries method to make changes to legend entries in a Microsoft Excel chart, you may receive the following error message:

Run-time error '1004': Application or object-defined error

Cause

This behavior occurs when the Excel chart contains more legend entries than there is space available to display the legend entries on the Excel chart. When this behavior occurs, Microsoft Excel may truncate the legend entries.

Because the LegendEntries method in your VBA macro uses what appears for the legend (in this case, the truncated legend entries), the error message that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section of this article occurs when there are more entries than there is space available to display the legend entries on the Excel chart.

Workaround

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To work around this behavior, create a macro that reduces the font size of the Excel chart legend text before your VBA macro makes changes to the chart legend and then restore the font size of the chart legend so that it is similar to the following macro example.

Sub ResizeLegendEntries()

With Worksheets("Sheet1").ChartObjects(1).Activate
      ' Store the current font size
      fntSZ = ActiveChart.Legend.Font.Size

'Temporarily change the font size.
      ActiveChart.Legend.Font.Size = 2

'Place your LegendEntries macro code here to make
         'the changes that you want to the chart legend.

' Restore the font size.
      ActiveChart.Legend.Font.Size = fntSZ
   End With

End Sub