How to Graph Data in Google Sheets

Turning a spreadsheet full of numbers into a clear, compelling graph is one of the most powerful skills you can learn in Google Sheets. It gives you an instant visual of what your data is trying to tell you, from sales trends to marketing performance. This guide will walk you through exactly how to create charts and graphs in Google Sheets, from preparing your data to customizing your final visualization.

Why Your Data Deserves a Good Graph

Before jumping into the "how," let's quickly cover the "why." You might be thinking, "The numbers are all right there in the table. Why do I need a graph?"

Numbers in a spreadsheet are great for precision, but they aren’t great for quickly understanding the big picture. Graphing your data helps you:

• Spot Trends and Patterns Instantly: Is your website traffic trending up or down over the past six months? A line chart makes the answer obvious in a split second, while scrolling through rows of numbers doesn’t.
• Compare Different Categories: Are Facebook Ads driving more sales than Google Ads? A simple bar chart can show you the winner immediately without you needing to do any mental math.

In short, graphs turn raw data into actionable insights. They transform a wall of numbers into a story anyone can understand, which is essential whether you're presenting to your team, a client, or just trying to understand your own business performance.

Step 1: Get Your Data Ready for Graphing

The secret to a great graph is clean, well-organized data. If you try to chart a messy spreadsheet, you'll end up with a confusing, inaccurate visualization. Before you even think about clicking "Insert Chart," take a minute to make sure your data is structured properly.

Follow these simple rules:

• Use clear headers: Your first row should contain descriptive headers for each column (e.g., "Month," "Sales Revenue," "Ad Spend"). Google Sheets reads these headers to automatically label your chart's axes.
• One data type per column: Keep numbers in one column, dates in another, and text categories in a third. Don't mix them up. For instance, avoid writing "Approx. 5,000" in a sales column - just use 5000.
• Keep it simple: Your data for the chart should be a single, solid block of cells. Avoid empty rows or columns in the middle of your data, and steer clear of merged cells, which can confuse the charting engine.

Example of Good vs. Bad Data Structure

Here’s a quick visual. Let’s say we’re tracking product sales.

Bad Data Structure:

Notice the merged cells, inconsistent headers, and extra informational rows within the data. This will be difficult for Google Sheets to interpret correctly.

Good Data Structure:

This layout is clean and simple. Each column has a purpose, and the data is consistent. This is the perfect foundation for a great chart.

Step 2: Create Your First Graph in Google Sheets

Once your data is cleaned up, making the actual graph takes just a few clicks. We’ll use our "Good" product sales data from above.

1. Select Your Data: Click and drag your cursor to highlight all the cells you want to include in your graph, including the headers.
2. Insert the Chart: With your data selected, click on Insert from the main menu, and then select Chart.
3. Review Your New Chart: Voilà! Google Sheets will instantly create a default chart based on your data and open the Chart editor sidebar on the right. It's surprisingly good at guessing what kind of chart you might want.

That's the basic process! You now have a functional chart. The next steps involve choosing the right type of chart and customizing it to make it clear and professional.

Common Google Sheet Chart Types (And When to Use Them)

Google Sheets often picks a reasonable default chart, but it’s not always the best one for the story you want to tell. The Chart editor makes it easy to switch. Here’s a rundown of the most common chart types and their ideal use cases.

1. Line Chart

• Best for: Showing a trend over a continuous period of time (days, months, years).
• Use Case Example: Tracking your website's monthly traffic for the past year to see if your SEO efforts are paying off. Any data with a time component - like stock prices, weather temperatures, or subscriber growth - is a great candidate for a line chart.

2. Bar Chart / Column Chart

• Best for: Comparing values across different categories.
• Use Case Example: Comparing sales figures for different products, comparing marketing performance across channels (e.g., Email vs. Social Media vs. Paid Search), or seeing which blog categories get the most views.
• Quick note: A column chart displays categories on the horizontal axis (like our example), while a bar chart orients them vertically. Bar charts are often better if you have long category names.

3. Pie Chart

• Best for: Showing parts of a whole, where all slices add up to 100%.
• Use Case Example: Breaking down your website traffic sources for a given month (e.g., 40% Organic, 30% Direct, 20% Referral, 10% Social).
• Friendly Advice: Use pie charts sparingly. They become hard to read with more than 5 or 6 slices. If you have many categories, a bar chart is almost always a better choice.

4. Scatter Plot

• Best for: Showing the relationship between two different numerical variables to see if they're correlated.
• Use Case Example: Plotting daily ad spend (X-axis) against daily conversions (Y-axis) to see if higher spending leads to more conversions. Each dot on the chart represents a single day's data.

Step 3: Customize Your Graph to Perfection

A default chart is good, but a customized chart is better. It's more professional, easier to read, and can be styled to match your brand. In the Chart editor sidebar, click the Customize tab.

Here are a few key tweaks that can elevate any chart:

Chart & Axis Titles

Always give your chart a clear, descriptive title. "Sales Q1 2024" is much better than just "Sales." Go to Chart & axis titles to edit the text for the main chart title, the horizontal axis, and the vertical axis. Labeling your axes is critical so viewers know exactly what they're looking at.

Series Colors and Styles

Under the Series dropdown, you can change the color of your bars, lines, or pie slices. This is great for aligning the chart with your company's branding. You can also change a line's thickness or add data labels to show the specific value of each data point, making it easier to read.

Legend

The legend tells you what each color represents. You can change its position (top, bottom, right, or remove it entirely) under the Legend section.

By spending just a few minutes in the Customize tab, you can take a basic chart and make it look polished and presentation-ready.

Advanced Tips and Tricks

Ready to level up your Google Sheets graphing skills? Here are a couple of powerful features to try.

Creating a Combo Chart

What if you want to show two very different types of data on one graph? For instance, let's revisit our product sales data. We have 'Units Sold' (a number) and 'Revenue' (a currency). If revenue numbers are much larger than unit numbers, the bars for units sold might barely appear on the graph.

A combo chart is the solution. In the Chart editor's Setup tab, change the Chart type to Combo chart. Then, in the Customize > Series tab, you can assign one of your data series (e.g., 'Units Sold') to the Right Axis. This creates a secondary Y-axis scaled specifically for that data. You can even change just one of the series to a line to make it stand out!

Adding a Trendline

If you're using a line or scatter chart to analyze data over time, a trendline can quickly show you the direction your data is heading. In the Customize > Series menu, simply check the box for Trendline. Google Sheets will automatically add a line that visualizes the overall pattern in your data, helping you see growth or decline at a glance.

Sharing and Publishing Your Graph

Once your chart is complete, you can easily share it. Click the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner of your chart to see all the options:

• Copy chart: Copy it to your clipboard to paste directly into Google Docs, Slides, or an email.
• Download: Save it as a PNG image or a PDF document for use outside of Google Workspace.
• Publish chart: This generates a public URL for your chart, which you can also get as an embed code to add to a website or blog.
• Move to own sheet: This moves the chart from an overlay on your data grid to its own dedicated tab, which is great for building dashboards.

Final Thoughts

Creating graphs in Google Sheets transforms raw data into a powerful communication tool. By starting with clean data, choosing the right chart type, and adding a few simple customizations, you can visualize your key metrics and share important insights effectively with anyone on your team.

While mastering Google Sheets is a huge step, connecting and visualizing data from all your different marketing and sales tools can still be a manual process. We built our product for this very reason. It lets you connect all your data sources - like Google Analytics, Shopify, Facebook Ads, or your CRM - and then use simple, natural language to ask questions or build dashboards. Instead of cleaning up CSV files and creating charts one at a time, Graphed allows you to have a full, real-time dashboard built in seconds, simply by describing what you want to see.