Chart

A chart draws the numbers in a table on the same page as columns, bars, a line or a pie. The table stays the one place the numbers live: change a number and the chart redraws, so the two can never disagree. Use a chart when the shape of the numbers matters more than the numbers themselves: which month was best, how fast something is growing, what share each part takes.

Insert it

Type the command at the start of a line, or after a space, and press Enter. Or choose + on the toolbar, then Chart. If you had text selected, the chart takes its place.

A new chart starts as a column chart of the first table on the page. Choose the table you mean in its Table menu, as described under Changing and removing it.

How a chart reads a table

• The first row names the series. Each column after the first becomes one color, listed in the legend under the chart.

• The first column labels the rows. Each row becomes a group of columns, a bar, a point on the line, or a slice.

• The other cells are the numbers. Values written the way people write them count: 1,234, 45%, $9.50. A row with no numbers at all is skipped.

• Tables are numbered from the top of the page, every table counted. On this page the table under Insert it is Table 1, so the four charts below draw Tables 2 to 5.

The four types, and when to use each

Column: compare amounts across a few groups

Upright columns, one group for each row, one color for each series. Use it to compare a handful of periods or groups side by side, and to set two or three series against each other. For example, sign-ups on the free and team plans, month by month:

The free plan peaked in October; the team plan kept growing. Nobody has to read twelve numbers to see that.

Bar: long labels, or a ranking

The same idea turned on its side: one bar for each row, its label to the left. Labels have room to be long, so use it when the rows are sentences rather than single words, or when you want to rank things. Sort the table from the largest number down and the chart reads as a ranking. For example, the questions the support team answered most:

Line: change over time

One line for each series, joining the rows in order from left to right. Use it for something measured again and again over time, where the trend matters more than any one point. For example, weekly readers on a computer and on a phone:

A line chart has no labels along its bottom edge: the first point is the table’s first row, and the last point its last row. Keep the table beside the chart, as here, so readers can find a week.

Pie: parts of a whole

One slice for each row, sized by its share of the total. Use it only when the rows add up to a whole that means something, such as a budget or a week, and there are five slices or fewer. For example, where a team’s 40-hour week goes:

Point at a column or a bar to see its value. Negative numbers count as zero in columns, bars and pies; a line goes below its starting level for them.

Changing and removing it

While you are editing, three controls sit above the chart:

• Table chooses which table on the page to draw: Table 1 is the first.

• Type switches between Column (vertical), Bar (horizontal), Line and Pie. The table is not touched.

• Chart title (optional) is a line shown above the chart.

If there is no table on the page yet, the chart says so; if its table has no numbers, it says that instead. To remove a chart, click its edge to select it and press Delete. The table stays.

Good practice

• Say what the chart shows in its title, including when: “Sign-ups by month, 2026”, not “Chart”.

• Put the chart right after its table, so readers who want an exact number find it at once.

• Few series. Two or three colors compare well; eight become a puzzle.

• Pick the type by the question. Comparing: column or bar. Over time: line. Share of a whole: pie.

Related elements

• Table holds the numbers a chart draws.

• Diagram (Mermaid) draws flowcharts and timelines from text, rather than numbers.

• Math shows the formula behind the numbers.