How to Make a Chart in Google Docs [2023]

Charts are extremely useful when you have a lot of data in your document and need to show the correlation between different data sets. They’re typically used in spreadsheets, but you can also use charts or graphs in Google Docs.

Keep reading if you still don’t know how to make a chart in Google Docs. We will show you how you can make different types of charts in Google Docs and how to edit them. This process has been broken into simpler steps so you can understand it easily. Let’s get started!

How to Make a Chart in Google Docs (Step-by-step)

Remember, you can only make a chart in Google Docs if you are using a computer. This feature isn’t available on the mobile app. 

Step 1: Open a document and place the cursor where you want to make a chart.

Step 2: Click Insert and hover over Chart. Four chart options will appear there. These are Bar, Column, Line, and Pie. If you select a Bar chart, the data will be shown with horizontal bars. For column charts, you will see vertical bars for corresponding data. Line charts are for drawing simple lines corresponding with the available data, and Pie charts will show data in a circle cut into pieces. You can also select From Sheets if you already have a chart in Google Sheets and want to add that to Google Docs. For now, we will select a Bar chart from the menu.

Step 3: A sample chart will now appear in your document, but there is no real data associated with the chart till now. To customize a chart according to your data, you need to edit that chart.

How to Edit a Chart in Google Docs

Even though you can make a chart in Google Docs, editing your chart isn’t possible here. You need to use Google Sheets to edit that chart. Let’s see how you can do that.

Step 1: Click on the chart to select it. Then, click the downward arrow at the top right corner of the chart and select Open source to open your chart in Google Sheets.

Step 2: Once your chart opens in Google Sheets, chart data will show up in cells. You can edit any data in these cells.

Step 3: You can also customize your chart by changing the position, axis, fonts, font size, text color, etc. To customize these options, double-click on the chart in Google Sheets or click the three vertical dots at the top right corner of the chart. The Chart editor sidebar will open now.

Step 4: Under the Setup tab, you can select various chart types. You can also choose the preferred stacking option, data range, Y-axis, Series, etc. Switching between rows and columns is also possible from this tab.

Step 5: Under the Customize tab, you can change chart style, chart & axis titles, series, legend, horizontal axis, vertical axis, gridlines, and ticks, etc. 

Step 6: Once your editing is complete, go to your document in Google Docs. The Update option will appear at the top right corner of the chart. Click Update to refresh your chart, and the changed data will appear in Google Docs.

Now you can see that the change data has appeared in your Google Docs chart. You can present data with interesting charts with this method. 

How to Import Charts from Google Sheets

If you already have a chart ready in Google Sheets and want to import that to your document, follow these steps.

Step 1: Open your document and place the cursor where you want to import your chart.

Step 2: Go to the Insert menu. Hover the mouse over Chart and select From Sheets on the sub-menu.

Step 3: A pop-up window will appear with all your available Sheets. From this window, you need to select the Sheet where your desired chart is saved. Then, click Select.

Step 4: A new pop-up window will appear, and the chart inside the Sheet will show up in this window. Click on your chart and click Import. 

Step 5: The chart will now appear in your document. If you want to edit it again, you can follow the steps mentioned above to customize your chart.

Summary

Charts are a more visual way of presenting your data so your reader can easily consume data. Creating and editing charts in spreadsheets is straightforward — and you can easily import them back into Google Docs. We’ve shown you how to make a chart in Google Docs and how to edit your chart using Google Sheets. This should help you create beautiful charts with your data and customize charts to your liking.