How to Create Charts & Graphs in Google Sheets
Example File - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Charts and Graphs
Google Sheets offers a variety of chart types, including bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, and more. Let’s start by setting up some sample data.
Here’s a simple dataset we’ll use for this tutorial. We have sales data for different months. You can create your own dataset or use the one provided in the description below.
Let’s create a basic chart. First, highlight the data range you want to visualize. For this example, we’ll select our months and sales figures.
Next, go to the ‘Insert’ menu at the top, and select ‘Chart.’ Google Sheets will automatically generate a chart based on your selected data.
You’ll see a default chart appear on your sheet. To customize it, click on the chart, and then click the three vertical dots in the top right corner and then select “Edit Chart” to open the ‘Chart Editor.’
In the ‘Chart Editor’ panel, you can choose different chart types. Let’s start with a column chart. Click on the ‘Setup’ tab and select ‘Column chart’ from the Chart type dropdown.
Now, let’s customize the chart further. Click on the ‘Customize’ tab in the Chart Editor. Here, you can adjust things like chart title, axis labels, and colors.
For instance, you can change the chart title by clicking on ‘Chart & axis titles.’ Let’s call this chart ‘Monthly Sales Data.’
Google Sheets also offers more advanced chart options. Let’s add a trendline to our chart to highlight the sales trend.
In the ‘Customize’ tab, go to ‘Series,’ and check the box for ‘Trendline.’ This adds a line that represents the trend of your data over time.
You can also format the chart further, like changing the chart style, adjusting gridlines, and more. Play around with these settings to find what works best for your data.
Now let’s explore a few other chart types. For example, if you want to compare parts of a whole, a pie chart is a great option.
Highlight your data, go to ‘Insert,’ and select ‘Chart’ again. This time, choose ‘Pie chart’ from the Chart type dropdown.
In the ‘Customize’ tab, under the “Chart style” header you can adjust the background colour, maximize the size of the chart, turn it into a 3D image, and set the font.
Under the “Pie Chart” header you can add a donut hole, change the slice label values and font style and colour.
Under the “Pie Slice” header you can adjust slice colours.
You can also create line charts for showing trends over time or scatter plots for displaying relationships between variables.
Once you’ve created your chart, you might want to share it with others or embed it in a report. You can copy the chart and paste it into Google Docs, or download it as an image file.
To download the chart, click on the three vertical dots on the chart, select ‘Download chart’ and choose your preferred format.
To copy and paste the chart into a Google Doc, select the chart by left clicking on it. Then go to the edit menu and select “copy”. Go to the google doc that you would like to paste the chart into and right click the body of the doc and select paste. If you choose to “Link to spreadsheet” updating the chart in the spreadsheet will automatically change the chart in the doc. If you select “Paste Unlinked” the chart will remain unchanged in the google doc, even if you edit it in the google sheet.
I will paste this chart “Linked to spreadsheet” and then make a change to the chart in the spreadsheet. If I go back to the google doc, you’ll see that I can refresh the chart and it will automatically update with the changes.
And that’s it! You now know how to create and customize charts and graphs in Google Sheets. This will help you make your data more understandable and visually appealing.
If you found this video helpful, give it a thumbs up and subscribe to TipBytes for more tips and tutorials. Drop any questions or suggestions for future videos in the comments below. Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you in the next video!