Your first chart
7 minutes · 4 steps · free, no sign-up
A chart makes a pattern obvious at a glance. The skill is choosing the right kind of chart and the right data. You will turn a table of monthly sales into a column chart, give it a title, switch it to a line, and then make a pie chart of a different table.
- Choose the data range for a chart
- Insert a column chart and give it a title
- Switch to a line chart
- Know when a pie chart is the right choice
Click a cell and start typing. Enter edits, Tab moves right, arrows move, Delete clears.
Quick referenceWhich chart?
Column / bar compare amounts between categories
Line show change over time
Pie show shares of one whole (a few slices)The key ideasSummary: Your first chart
The data range should include the labels in the first column and, ideally, a header row. Sheets uses the headings to name the series. Pick the chart for the question: columns to compare categories, a line for change over time, and a pie only when the parts add up to a whole and there are few of them.
Every chart needs a title that says what it shows. A reader should understand it without asking you.
Watch out forCommon mistakes
- Using a pie chart for too many slices. More than five or six slices are impossible to compare. Use a bar chart instead.
- Using a line for categories. A line joins points as if there is something between them. Use it for time, not for a list of regions.
- Leaving out the title. "Sales" says little. "Monthly sales, 2025" tells the reader what they are looking at.
- Selecting the total row. If the range includes a Total row, it becomes the biggest bar and squashes everything else.
Next stepTry it in the real Google Sheets
In Google Sheets select your data and choose Insert → Chart. The chart editor suggests a type, and has tabs for the data range, titles, colours and axes. Click a chart and drag its corners to resize it.