Interactive charts

An interactive chart presents data in stages so that you can emphasize the relationship between groups of data. You can use an interactive chart to show data like sales by group over time, expenses by department, and population changes by country per continent.

The interactive chart below shows the growth of three species during a three-year period.

An interactive chart, which displays different data sets as you drag the slider

You can interact with the chart using a slider and buttons or buttons only.

To create these charts you can either add a blank chart to a sheet, then select the table cells with the data you want to use. Or, you can select the cells first, then create a chart that displays the data. Either way, when you change the data in the table, the chart updates automatically.

This topic describes how to add a chart first, then select the data.

Create an interactive chart

  1. Click Chart button in the toolbar, then click Interactive.

    Click the right and left arrows to see more styles.

  2. Click a chart or drag one to the sheet.

  3. Click the Add Chart Data button.

    If you don’t see the Add Chart Data button, make sure the chart is selected.

  4. Click the table cells with the data you want to use, or drag to select a range of cells; to add data from an entire row or column, click the table, then click the number or letter for that row or column.

    You can select cells from one or more tables, including tables on different sheets. While editing a chart’s data references, Chart reference icon appears on the tab for any sheet that contains data used in the chart.

  5. To change whether rows or columns are plotted as data series, click the pop-up menu in the bar at the bottom of the window, then choose an option.

    The pop-up menu for choosing whether to plot rows or columns as series
  6. Click Done in the bar at the bottom of the window.

  7. To change the type of control used for interacting with the chart, click the chart, then click the Chart tab at the top of the sidebar on the right.

    If you don’t see a sidebar, or the sidebar doesn’t have a Chart tab, click Format button in the toolbar.

  8. Click the pop-up menu below Interactive Chart and choose Buttons Only.

SEE ALSOModify chart data referencesAdd a legend, gridlines, and other markings