How to Label Columns in Google Sheets Chart

A column chart without clear labels is just a set of confusing blue bars. It makes it impossible for you or your team to know what data you're actually looking at, turning your report into a guessing game. This guide will walk you through exactly how to label columns in your Google Sheets charts, ensuring your data is always easy to understand.

Why Does Google Sheets Need Me to Label a Column Chart in the First Place?

Shouldn't Google Sheets automatically label everything for us? Usually, it does a pretty good job! Most of the time, Google Sheets correctly uses the first row of your selected data as "headers" and automatically turns those headers into the labels for your chart’s columns, which are also known as the data "series” (e.g., "Revenue 2023," "Revenue 2024"). It also uses the first column of your data to label the horizontal or x–axis (e.g., month, product category, or campaign name). But sometimes things go wrong. A simple slip-up in your data selection or formatting can leave you with a generic, unhelpful chart that displays “Series 1, Series 2," which doesn't really mean much to anyone.

Learning how to manually label and customize your chart elements isn't just about fixing mistakes, it's about taking control of your storytelling, ensuring the insights you've worked so hard to uncover don’t get lost in translation.

Prepare Your Data for Better Chart Labels

Before you ever create a chart in Google Sheets (or any reporting dashboard tool for that matter), you will want to make sure your data is structured properly. Preparing your data takes five seconds but can save you 15 minutes of headache.

The trick is to make sure your spreadsheet organizes your information in columns and that your labels and numeric data have headers. You will need a header label for your horizontal or X-axis as well as a vertical or Y-axis.

For this tutorial, let’s imagine we’re building a simple marketing report that tracks website traffic from different social media channels over the past few months. Here’s what our data looks like:

Notice that our spreadsheet has an organized set of columns starting with the “Month” in the far left and includes a column for each source of web traffic, including Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. To get Google Sheets to properly add these labels to a column chart you create, you will just need to make sure to create the chart directly from the spreadsheet.

• Column A (Month): This will be our X-axis (the horizontal labels at the bottom of the chart).
• Row 1 (Month, Facebook, etc.): These are our headers. Google Sheets will use these as labels for our data series (the different colored columns).

How to Create a Google Sheets Column Chart with Labels

Now that your data has proper columns and headers, the first step is to create a basic Google Sheets column chart. This is just as easy as our last step and barely needs any explanation, even for the most novice of spreadsheet users.

Here’s how you can do it in a matter of seconds.

1. Click and drag your mouse to select the entire data range, including the headers in the first row and the labels in the first column. In our example, you’d select cell A1 through D4.
2. Navigate to the top menu and click on Insert > Chart.
3. Google Sheets will automatically generate a chart for you. It’s pretty smart and will likely suggest a column chart, but if it doesn’t, you can easily change it. In the Chart editor sidebar that appears, go to the Setup tab and select “Column chart” from the Chart type dropdown.

If your data was properly formatted, your chart should now appear with "Facebook," "Instagram," and "LinkedIn" as the labels in the legend, and the months along the bottom. You win!

But what if your headers were in another part of the worksheet or the data didn't come with headers at all? In the following sections, we will still show you how to add headers after your chart has already been created as well as customize them.

Manually Add and Customize Your Column Labels (Data Series)

If Google Sheets didn’t automatically pick up your headers, or if you simply want to change them without altering your original spreadsheet data, you can do it right from the Chart editor.

Imagine your chart mistakenly shows "Series 1," "Series 2," and "Series 3" instead of the social media channels. Here's how to fix it.

1. Open the Chart Editor: Double-click anywhere on your chart. This will bring up the "Chart editor" sidebar on the right. If it’s not open, click the three vertical dots on the top-right corner of your chart and select "Edit chart."
2. Navigate to the "Setup" Tab: At the top of the sidebar, make sure you're on the "Setup" tab. Here you will see a “Series" group box. Inside that group box, you should see all the labels of your column headings in your worksheet (or the generic ones if they imported incorrectly): "Facebook," "Instagram," "LinkedIn."
3. Change the Column Header Text: Clicking any of the column header labels will pop up an options menu that contains label and axis settings. In the “Label text” field, just enter the new text. It updates instantly on your chart. For this example, let's say you want to shorten "Instagram Sessions" to just "Instagram." Simply click it and type in the new name.

Pro Tip: Link Column Labels to Cells for Dynamic Updates

Typing labels manually is quick and easy for reports or worksheets that won’t ever need any changes or get used again. However, if a Google Sheets column chart and its worksheet are going to be your go-to report and it receives regular updates or other changes, you may want to use cells for data references instead. When you use dynamic references in charts, your chart data labels will update automatically when the cell text is updated - there's no need to edit the chart manually ever again!

Here's how to do it.

1. From the chart in your Google Sheet, select the column label text you would like to edit to open the editing menu.
2. In the text box for your desired header, instead of making a manual text entry, select "Select data range."
3. A dialog box entitled "What data" will appear. It will allow you to select a spreadsheet cell you want your chart label to always reference.

Editing Other Important Chart Labels for Better Communication of Your Work

A well–built chart is easy to read and communicates information to your team and others around you. So, now that you’ve mastered column (series) labels, here's how to perfect all of the other labels that will turn your simple chart into a professional-looking dashboard.

All of these settings can be found in the Chart editor under the Customize tab.

1. Chart & Axis Titles

Give your chart meaning with the quick addition of descriptive labels. Your chart labels add the who, what, where, and why that will add extra context and make your charts easier to read by viewers.

• Go to Customize > Chart & axis titles.
• Here, you can select which title you want to edit from the dropdown (Chart title, Chart subtitle, Horizontal axis title, or Vertical axis title).
• Simply type your desired text into the "Title text" box. For our example, a good chart title would be "Monthly Social Media Traffic." A good vertical axis title would be “Website Sessions," since that’s what our data is measuring.

2. Adding Your Legend to the Column Chart

Adding a chart legend helps clarify a chart's data colors by column. They are especially helpful anytime you're displaying a grouped set of columns.

For column charts that have two axes with vertical columns showing the amount of something versus a horizontal axis indicating time or location, adding your legend beneath all that information is the easiest way to quickly show your viewers which columns represent which values.

• Find your chart's Legends editing option in the Customize > Legend section.
• From here, you can add your Legend to your chart as well as pick its fonts and positioning. For a grouped column chart like the one in this tutorial, you can position it directly adjacent to vertically stacked categories or, if you have room, beneath the horizontal axis showing month-over-month results.

3. Data Labels: Putting Numbers on the Columns

You can also use the chart editor to show the row labels as well, using the Labels section options.

Labels display the numbers that make up your columns so that you don't have to rely on cross-referencing your chart axis line. This makes for a super fast, easy-to-read chart that everyone on your team will appreciate.

• Go to Customize > Series in your sidebar options.
• Make sure to change your setting for the series of data columns you want to see numbers on.
• Check the "Data Labels" box. Your columns will then display their numerical values, improving readability. You can customize the positioning of labels, font styles, and more to make data numbers easier to read.

Final Thoughts

Labeling columns and other elements in Google Sheets is a simple yet powerful way to make your data speak clearly. By trading generic labels for descriptive titles and ensuring every part of your chart is easy to understand, you transform a basic visualization into a convincing, professional report.

When you connect your apps, our AI learns the structure of your data. This allows us to handle all the tedious setup so you can build perfectly labeled, real-time dashboards just by asking questions in plain English. With Graphed, you spend less time tweaking chart settings and more time acting on the insights in your marketing and sales data.