How to Change Data Labels in Google Sheets

A great chart does more than just show data, it tells a story. What often separates a confusing chart from a clear one is the quality of its data labels. This guide will walk you through exactly how to add, change, and customize data labels in Google Sheets to make your charts more professional, readable, and impactful.

First, Let's Make a Basic Chart

Before you can customize data labels, you need a chart. Let's start with a simple dataset showing monthly website sessions. This is a common task for marketers, business owners, and content creators.

Here’s our sample data:

To turn this into a chart:

1. Highlight the data range you want to visualize (in this case, cells A1 through B7).

2. Go to the top menu and click Insert > Chart.

3. Google Sheets will automatically create a chart for you. By default, it often chooses a line chart or bar chart (column chart), which is perfect for this type of data.

You should now have a simple, clean chart on your sheet. But as you can see, there are no specific numbers on the bars, which means your audience has to guess the exact values.

This is where data labels come in.

Adding and Customizing Data Labels

The Chart editor is your control center for everything related to your chart's appearance. If it’s not already open on the right side of your screen, simply double-click anywhere on your chart to open it.

The editor has two main tabs: Setup and Customize. We'll be spending most of our time in the Customize tab.

Step 1: Turn on Data Labels

In the Chart editor, follow these steps:

1. Click the Customize tab.

2. Click to expand the Series section. This is where you control the look of your data series (the bars, lines, or pie slices).

3. Scroll down and check the box next to Data labels.

Voila! The exact values from your 'Sessions' column now appear on or near your chart's bars. It's already more informative.

Step 2: Change Data Label Position

Sometimes, the default position of the labels isn't quite right. They might overlap with other chart elements or just look better somewhere else. Google Sheets gives you several options.

Right underneath the Data labels checkbox, you'll find the Position dropdown. Depending on your chart type (bar, line, etc.), you’ll have a few choices:

• Auto: Google Sheets decides the best placement for you.

• Center: Places the label in the middle of each bar.

• Inside end: Puts the label at the very top of each bar, but still inside it.

• Inside base: Puts the label at the bottom of each bar, near the axis.

• Outside end: Places the label just above each bar (this is often the default and a popular choice for clarity).

Play around with these settings to see what works best for your data. For tall columns, "Center" or "Inside End" can look great. For shorter columns, "Outside End" is usually the most readable.

Step 3: Customize Label Font and Color

Readability is everything. You need your labels to be clear and easy on the eyes. You can adjust the font, size, format, and color to match your report's branding or simply improve contrast.

In the same Data labels section of the editor, you'll find options for:

• Text color: Change the color of the label text. Pro-tip: If you place your label inside a dark-colored bar, change the text color to white for a high-contrast, professional look.

• Font: Choose from a standard list of web-safe fonts.

• Font size: Make the text smaller to reduce clutter or larger for emphasis.

• Format: Make labels Bold or Italic.

Step 4: Change the Number Format

What if your data isn't just a number, but represents currency, a percentage, or a very large number that needs commas? You don't have to change your original data cells, you can format the labels directly.

Under the Data labels settings, find the Number format option. Click it, and you'll get a list of common formats like:

• Number (with decimal places)

• Percent

• Scientific

• Accounting

• Financial

• Currency

You can even define your own Custom number format if you have specific needs, like adding "k" for thousands or "M" for millions to keep long numbers tidy.

Advanced: Customizing Labels on Pie Charts

Pie charts have a unique set of data label options because they show parts of a whole.

Let's say you have this data for your marketing channels:

After you create a pie chart (Insert > Chart) and select Pie Chart from the Setup tab, go to Customize > Pie chart.

Here, you'll find the Slice label dropdown. This is the key setting for pie chart labels. You can choose to display:

• Label: Shows the text from your first column ("Organic Search", "Paid Social").

• Value: Shows the raw number.

• Percentage: Calculates and shows the percentage of the whole for each slice. This is super helpful and very common for pie charts.

• Value and percentage: Displays both, giving your audience the full picture.

Just like with other charts, you can then customize the label font size, text color, and format to make it perfectly clear.

Pro Tip: Using a Separate Range for Full Label Control

Sometimes you want your labels to include text that isn't in your original dataset, like "Sessions," "Units," or "$". The best way to achieve total customization is to create a helper column for your labels.

Let's go back to our first example. What if we want the labels to read "22,450 sessions" instead of just "22450"?

Step 1: Create a Helper Column

In a column next to your data (say, column C), you're going to create the exact labels you want. You can do this with a simple formula. In cell C2, type:

=B2 & " sessions"

Then, click the small blue square on the bottom right of cell C2 (the fill handle) and drag it down to apply the formula to the rest of the cells. You now have a dedicated column of your desired labels.

Step 2: Add the Label Range to Your Chart

Now, go back to your chart. Instead of using the default values, we'll tell the chart to use this new column for its labels.

1. Double-click the chart to open the Chart editor and go to the Setup tab.

2. In the 'Series' section for 'Sessions', click the three vertical dots and select Add labels.

3. A "Select a data range" box will appear. Click on the grid icon.

4. Highlight your new label range (C2:C7). Click OK.

Your chart will instantly update, replacing the old numeric labels with your beautifully formatted new ones.

Final Thoughts

Mastering data labels in Google Sheets is a simple yet powerful way to elevate your reports. By moving beyond the default settings and customizing the position, format, and content of your labels, you can transform a basic chart into a clear, compelling story that everyone can understand.

The time you spend tweaking reports in spreadsheets is time you're not spending on strategy. Fiddling with chart labels, manually importing CSVs, and rebuilding the same reports weekly can eat up your day. We built Graphed to automate all of that. Just connect your data sources like Google Analytics or Shopify once, and then ask for the exact chart or dashboard you need in plain English - no more manual chart editors or helper columns needed. Your dashboards update in real-time, giving you back hours to focus on what the data actually means.