How to Change Intervals on Google Sheets Graph

A cluttered chart axis can make your data impossible to understand, with numbers and labels mashed together into an unreadable mess. Changing the intervals on your Google Sheets graph is the key to creating a clean, professional, and easy-to-read visualization. This article provides a step-by-step guide to customizing your chart's intervals, from simple adjustments to more advanced techniques for complete control.

Why Your Graph Intervals Matter

The "interval" is the space between the labels and lines on your chart's axes. When you create a chart, Google Sheets does its best to guess an optimal interval, but it often gets it wrong. This can lead to two common problems:

• Too Many Labels: This is the most frequent issue. If you're plotting daily sales for a year, Google Sheets might try to display all 365 dates on the horizontal axis, creating a solid block of overlapping text.

• Awkward Increments: Sometimes the automatic intervals are just strange. The axis might go up in increments of 3.33 or show values like 0, 16.67, 33.33, and so on, which makes the chart look unprofessional and difficult to interpret.

By learning to manually set your chart intervals, you take control of the story your data tells. You can highlight key milestones, establish a logical scale, and ensure your audience can grasp the main takeaways at a glance. It’s the difference between a confusing spreadsheet and a powerful visual report.

How to Change Numeric Intervals on a Google Sheets Graph

Let's start with the most common scenario: changing the intervals on a vertical axis with numeric values. Imagine you have a bar chart showing monthly sales revenue.

Initially, creating a chart might give you axis intervals that look a bit crowded or just don't follow round numbers. Maybe it goes up in steps of $2,000, but you'd prefer to see increments of $5,000.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Open the Chart Editor: Double-click on your chart. This will open the Chart editor sidebar on the right side of your screen. If it doesn't appear, you can click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner of your chart and select ‘Edit chart’.

2. Navigate to the 'Customize' Tab: At the top of the Chart editor, click on the Customize tab.

3. Select the Correct Axis: Click on the Vertical axis section to expand its options. (Note: If you were changing intervals on the bottom axis, you would select 'Horizontal axis' instead).

4. Find 'Gridlines and ticks': Scroll down within the Vertical axis options until you see a section titled Gridlines and ticks. This is where you’ll find the settings to control your chart’s intervals.

5. Set the Major Spacing Step: Look for the Major spacing sub-section. Click the dropdown menu that likely says "Auto" and select Step. A new box will appear where you can type in your desired interval. For our sales chart example, let’s enter 5000.

As soon as you enter the value, your chart will instantly update. The vertical axis labels will now appear at cleaner $5,000 increments, making the sales performance much easier to read at a glance.

Pro Tip: Add Minor Gridlines for Detail

Sometimes you want clean major intervals, but you also need more granular reference lines without cluttering the axis with labels. This is where minor gridlines come in handy.

Inside the same 'Gridlines and ticks' section, you'll see a setting for 'Minor gridline count'. This option lets you add a specified number of lines between your major steps.

For example, if our major step is 5000, setting the 'Minor gridline count' to 4 will place four lines in between each major gridline. This visually divides the space into five equal segments of $1,000 each (5000 / 5 = 1000), giving you more visual context without adding any messy labels.

How to Change Date Intervals in a Time-Series Chart

Adjusting intervals for dates on a horizontal fiscal analysis can feel trickier, as the settings aren't always in an obvious location. This is especially true when plotting data spanning several months or longer.

Let's say you're visualizing website commerce and sessions over a six-month period. Without customization, Google Sheets might automatically clutter traffic with too many individual dates by default.

Advanced Method: The 'Helper Column' Trick for Perfect Date Intervals

When you need precise control over which dates appear, such as showing only the first of each month, the built-in settings may not be sufficient. In these cases, creating a helper column in your data source allows you to specify exactly which data points should be labeled.

1. Create a Helper Column: Add a new column next to your existing data. For example, if your date data is in "Column A" and sessions are in "Column B", add "Column C" as your helper column.

2. Use a Formula for Conditional Labels: In the helper column, use an IF formula to specify which dates to label. For instance, to show only the first of each month:

   =IF(DAY(A2)=1, TEXT(A2, "MMM d"), "")

   • If the day of a given date in Column A is the first of the month, the formula displays that date in a readable format (e.g., "Sep 1").

   • Otherwise, it leaves the cell blank, ensuring no labels are shown for other days.

3. Drag the Formula Down: Copy the formula down through your helper column to apply it to all relevant rows.

4. Update the Chart Source to Use the Helper Column: In your chart, replace the horizontal axis data range with the helper column's range. This will update your chart to show labels only where specified by your helper column.

This method ensures that only relevant dates, such as the first day of each month, are labeled on your chart’s x-axis, reducing clutter and improving readability.

Final Thoughts

Mastering chart intervals in Google Sheets transforms your raw data from a simple spreadsheet into a clear, compelling story. By adjusting the major and minor gridlines through the 'Customize' tab, you can take control of your visualization's readability in seconds. For more complex needs, particularly with date-based charts, the helper column method provides the ultimate precision to make your reports look exactly how you want.

Manually adjusting charts is powerful, but it can become repetitive, especially when you manage multiple reports across different data sources. We built Graphed to erase this friction. It connects directly to your marketing and sales platforms like Google Analytics, Shopify, and HubSpot, and allows you to build real-time, interactive dashboards just by describing what you want to see. Instead of creating helper columns or clicking through menus to get your intervals right, you can ask questions like "Show me month-over-month revenue growth" and get a perfectly formatted chart instantly, which always stays up-to-date.