The Ultimate Guide To Making Graphs In Google Sheets
Learning how to make a graph in google sheets is not only a great idea for storing and organizing data, but also simplifying the data for better understanding. As a whole, google sheets stores all the data in its numerous cells, which, in itself is a great way of assembling information.
How to Make a Graph in Google Sheets
Now that you’re aware of the options offered by google sheets, you may want to make charts of your own, for your own google documents. Now, we are going to walk you through the step-by-step process of how to make a graph in google sheets.
We will follow the guidelines involved in the making of a scatter graph. Some details differ with the type of graph chosen, however, fret not, for the differences are minor, and once you understand the major settings involved, the making of any type of graph will be a piece of cake for you.
All that is required is practice and patience. By the end of this article, you will fully understand how to make a graph in google sheets.
First off, to understand how to make a graph in google sheets, you need to have your data organized.
For our example, we have made a list of a group of people with their ages and heights in centimeters.
Step 1: For your first step, you need to select cells containing the data on which your graph will be based upon.
Step 2: Go to the top menu bar and click on the “Insert” option. This will allow for a drop-down menu to appear.
Step 3: From the drop-down menu, pick out “Chart”.
Your google sheets screen should now look like this. The graph that has appeared on your screen is the default graph type that google sheets automatically chooses as it deems it to be the most suitable one for your data.
It is to be noted that this graph may not be what you had in mind and in order to edit it according to your needs, you can utilize the chart editor on the right side of your screen.
You can see a chart set up on the left, and a chart editor pop-up box with customizations and chart editing options on the right side.
Chart Editor, and its Options
You may or may not be satisfied with the automatic setup graph, and if you aren’t, that’s what the chart editing panel is there for.
The first setting option is for the “type of graph”. From here you get to choose which type of graph you exactly want. You may select any one of the types mentioned above.
The “Chart type” drop-down menu once extended, should give you a number of different options for a graph style to pick from, alongside some suggested options according to the nature of your data. These offer a variety of options for you to choose from, each having different chart elements and features.
Immediately below the “Chart type” option is the “Data Range” option. If you hadn’t selected your range before inserting the graph, or if you want to edit your data range now, the “Data range” will allow you to do just that.
The “X-Axis”, as depicted by its name, lets you pick one of your series for the x-axis leaving the other for the y-axis. In our example, we can either choose the “Age” column as our x-axis or the “height” column, whatever our requirement may be.
Just below it, is the aggregate option. This one is a bit confusing if your data does not require aggregation, but if you have “Aggregate” checked, it is going to perform calculations on your data. You can pick the nature of the calculation as shown below:
The automatically selected type of calculation is “Sum”. This totals up the y-axis’ data for repeating values of the x-axis.
For example, here, in this case, if you check the “Aggregate” option, google sheets is going to add up the heights of the two people aged 23 together, of the two people aged 43 together, and of the two aged 34 together, making the graph look like this, displaying the maximum values.
A before and after displaying the without and with aggregate option ticked have been shown here.
Before:
After:
The “Sum” is a good option for when you’re dealing with data that needs to be added such as routine inventory stock update for certain products.
For further reading, visit https://www.rumblerum.com/how-to-make-a-graph-in-google-sheets-easy-guide/#How_to_Make_a_Graph_in_Google_Sheets