How to Create and Modify a Chart in Google Sheets

If you have to regularly deal with lists of numbers, looking at those boring lists can get to you. Maybe at work, you have no choice but to deal with these kinds of lists, but those lists can be more pleasing to read when they’re in a chart.

The good news is that you can turn all those monotonous numbers into an attractive chart with a few clicks here and there. It’s going to be easier to read, and you can change the style so you can give it your personal touch.

How to Create a Graph in Google Sheets

To create a chart in Google Sheets, you’ll need to open a document that already has the information you want to include in the chart or add the data to a blank sheet. Once you have the information ready, choose the cells that you want to include in the chart, don’t forget the headers if you also want to include them.

To create your chart, select Insert from the menu at the top. When the list of options appears, choose the chart option.

When you click on the chart option, Sheets will choose a type of chart for you. The first type of chart it might decide is the classic pie style. If you don’t like how your new chart looks, you have quite a few options to choose from. Click on the chart type drop-down menu in the Chart Editor and choose styles such as:

• Line
• Area
• Bar
• Column
• Pie
• Scatter
• Map
• Other

If the Chart Editor doesn’t appear for some reason, double-click on the chart, and it should appear to the right. In the Setup tab of the editor, you can do things such as:

• Change the data range.
• X-axis
• Use column A as labels
• Use row 1 as headers.
• Switch rows/columns

The Customize tab also has excellent options to customize your graph. You can change the style of your chart with options such as:

• Chart Style – Change background color, font, and chart border-color. You can also add effects such as 3D, Maximize, and compare mode.
• Chart and Axis Titles – Allows you to add title, customize the style/font/size/format/text color of the title.
• Series – Change the position of the data, modify the color of the columns, and add error bars/ data labels/total data labels and trendline.
• Legend – Change position, legend font, font size, change format, and text color.
• Horizontal and Right Vertical Axis – Change the style of the text in that area. You can modify things such as font, size, format, color reverse axis order, and slant labels.
• Gridlines and Ticks – Allows you to modify the major/minor spacing type, and you can change things such as grid color, minor gridlines,  major/minor ticks.

How to Add a Chart to Google Sheets in Android

To create a chart using your Android device, the steps can be different. Once you have the Sheets, document open, select the data you want to add by tapping on the first cell, and dragging until you have all you need. Tap on the plus sign at the top and select the chart option.

After tapping on the chart, you’ll see the options you can count on, such as color, titles, legend, and chart type. Your chart will always be at the top of the options you’re looking at at the bottom. Once your done customizing your chart, tap on the green checkmark at the top-left.

Your newly created chart will be placed on your sheet. If you’re not happy where the chart is set, you can tap on it and slide it to its new position. To make the chart bigger or smaller, tap on one of the sides and slide to give it its new size.

Conclusion

Charts are nicer to look at than plain numbers. Now that you know how to add and customize a chart in Android and desktop, you can add some color to your presentation. How often do you have to create charts?