How to
How to make a bar graph
A bar graph compares amounts across categories by the length of each bar. It is the most reliable chart for comparing values, because people judge length far better than area or angle. This maker handles a single series, several series side by side, and stacked bars, in either direction.
- Add your categories. Each row is one category, such as a month, a product or a team. Type the label in the first column.
- Add one or more series. A series is a set of values you want to compare across the categories, for example this year and last year. Use Add series for another column and click its color square to change the color.
- Or paste the whole table. Copy a block from Excel or Google Sheets with the labels in the first column and press Paste from a spreadsheet. A header row becomes the series names.
- Choose the layout. Vertical bars suit time periods. Horizontal bars suit long category names and rankings. Pick side by side or stacked when you have more than one series.
- Export. Download a PNG for slides and documents, or an SVG you can scale and edit.
Side by side or stacked?
Put bars side by side when you want to compare the series with each other within each category, for example two classes on the same test. With two series this is the double bar graph used in many classrooms. Stack them when the total matters and the parts show what it is made of, such as revenue by product line in each quarter. A stacked bar chart is also called a segmented or composite bar chart. Stacked bars make the bottom segment easy to compare and the upper ones harder, so put the most important series first.
Vertical or horizontal?
Time reads left to right, so months and years belong on vertical bars. When labels are long, like survey answers or country names, switch to horizontal bars: the labels sit on the left in full instead of being tilted or cut.
Tip
Sort a ranking before you paste it, largest first. The order of the rows is the order of the bars.
Keep the scale honest
Bars always start at zero here. A bar graph that starts above zero exaggerates small differences, because the length of the bar no longer matches the value. If you need to show small changes over time, a line graph is the better fit.
Negative numbers
Values below zero are drawn downward, or to the left in horizontal mode, from a clear zero line. That makes profit and loss, or change from a baseline, easy to read at a glance.
Counting ranges of numbers?
If your categories are ranges, like ages 20 to 29 or scores from 60 to 69, you are describing one measurement, and a histogram will bin the raw numbers for you. For a few small whole numbers, a dot plot shows every value.
