How to Make a Stacked Bar Chart in Google Sheets with ChatGPT

Using ChatGPT to speed up your data analysis in Google Sheets can feel like a secret weapon, especially when it comes to creating charts. This article will show you exactly how to ask ChatGPT for instructions to build a stacked bar chart and then walk you through the manual process in Google Sheets, so you get the perfect visualization for your data.

First, What Is a Stacked Bar Chart?

A stacked bar chart is a variation of a standard bar chart. Instead of placing bars side by side to compare categories, it stacks them on top of one another. Each bar represents a total, and the segments within that bar represent different parts of that total.

So, when should you use one?

• Comparing parts to a whole: They're perfect for showing how different components contribute to a total value across multiple categories. For example, visualizing total quarterly sales (the whole bar) broken down by product category (the stacked segments).

• Showing composition over time: You can track how the makeup of a total changes. Imagine tracking website traffic sources month-over-month. Each month is a bar, and the segments could be "Organic," "Paid," and "Direct."

• Conserving space: When a grouped bar chart gets too crowded, a stacked bar chart can often display the same information more concisely.

The key takeaway is that stacked bar charts are rockstars when you need to see both the total and the individual components driving that total.

Setting Up Your Data in Google Sheets

Before you can build any chart, your data needs to be organized properly. Garbage in, garbage out. For a stacked bar chart, you need a clean, grid-like format where categories align in clear rows and columns.

The first column or row should list your main categories (what each bar will represent). These are your primary labels. The subsequent columns or rows should contain the numerical values for the segments you want to stack.

An Example Data Structure

Imagine you run an online store and want to analyze your quarterly sales by product category. Your data in Google Sheets should look something like this:

• Column A (Quarter): This will be the label for each bar on our chart (our Y-axis for a horizontal bar chart or X-axis for a vertical column chart).

• Columns B, C, D: These represent the different segments that will be stacked within each bar. Google Sheets will automatically add these numbers together to create the total length of each bar.

Make sure your headers are clear and concise, as they will become the labels in your chart's legend. Avoid empty rows or columns within your data set, as this can confuse Google Sheets.

Using ChatGPT as Your Co-Pilot

ChatGPT can't directly access your Google Sheet, but it's a great co-pilot for telling you exactly what buttons to push. You can describe your data and ask for precise, step-by-step instructions.

This approach saves you the time of hunting through menus or Googling for tutorials.

How to Prompt ChatGPT

Open ChatGPT and give it a clear, descriptive prompt. The more detail you provide, the better the instructions will be.

Here's a template you can use:

“Hi ChatGPT, I'm working in Google Sheets. I have data organized with 'Quarter' in Column A, 'Electronics Sales' in Column B, 'Apparel Sales' in Column C, and 'Home Goods Sales' in Column D. My data runs from row 1 to row 5. Can you please give me step-by-step instructions on how to create a stacked bar chart to visualize these quarterly sales by category?”

ChatGPT will respond with a numbered list of actions, essentially outlining the manual process for you. It takes the guesswork out and gives you a clear road map to follow, which we’ll cover in detail in the next section.

How to Make a Stacked Bar Chart in Google Sheets (Step-by-Step)

Whether you're following instructions from ChatGPT or just building one from scratch, the process is straightforward. Let's use our sample sales data to build the chart.

Step 1: Select Your Data

Click and drag your mouse to highlight the entire data range you want to include in the chart. In our example, you would select from cell A1 down to D5. Be sure to include the headers ("Quarter," "Electronics," etc.), as Google Sheets will use these for labels.

Step 2: Insert Chart

With your data highlighted, navigate to the top menu and click Insert > Chart.

Google Sheets will automatically pop up its Chart editor and make a guess at the best chart type for your data. Sometimes it nails it, but often it picks a different type, like a pie chart or a standard column chart. That’s okay - we'll fix it in the next step.

Step 3: Choose 'Stacked Bar Chart'

In the Chart editor sidebar that appears on the right, find the "Chart type" dropdown menu. Click it.

Scroll through the options until you find the "Bar" section. Here you will see a few options:

• Bar chart: The standard, side-by-side version.

• Stacked bar chart: This is the one we want. Segments are stacked to show totals.

• 100% stacked bar chart: This variation makes each bar the same length (100%) and shows the proportional contribution of each segment. It’s great for comparing relative percentages instead of absolute numbers.

Select "Stacked bar chart." Your chart preview will immediately update to reflect your choice.

Pro Tip: You might prefer a vertical version, which is called a "Stacked column chart." You can find this under the "Column" section of the Chart type menu. The choice between horizontal bars and vertical columns is purely aesthetic and depends on what fits best in your report.

Fine-Tuning and Customizing Your Stacked Bar Chart

You’ve got a chart, but now it’s time to make it look professional and easy to read. Stay in the Chart editor and click the "Customize" tab.

Chart & Axis Titles

• Go to Chart & axis titles.

• Chart title: Replace the generic title with something descriptive, like "Quarterly Sales Performance by Category."

• Horizontal axis title / Vertical axis title: Add titles to your axes if it's not immediately obvious what they represent, such as "Total Sales (USD)" or "Quarter."

Series Colors

Google’s default colors are fine, but you might want to match your company's branding or simply use colors that make more sense.

• Go to the Series section in the customization menu.

• You'll see a dropdown menu that lets you select which data series ("Electronics," "Apparel," etc.) you want to format.

• For each series, you can change its color. You can also add data labels to show the exact value of each segment right on the chart. To do this, check the "Data labels" box. You can then format the font, size, and color of the labels.

Legend

The legend tells the viewer what each color represents. Under the Legend tab, you can change its position (e.g., Top, Bottom, Right) and customize its text font and size to ensure it's easy to read without cluttering the chart.

Gridlines and Ticks

Under Gridlines and ticks, you can add or remove gridlines, change their color, or alter the spacing of the ticks on your axes. Reducing the opacity of major gridlines can often give your chart a cleaner, more modern look. For our sales example, adding major steps of $10,000 on the horizontal axis can make the totals easier to interpret at a glance.

Common Issues and Quick Fixes

Even with a simple process, things can go wrong. Here are a couple of common stumbling blocks and how to quickly resolve them.

Problem: All My Data is in One Big Bar.

Solution: This usually happens when Google Sheets doesn't correctly identify your headers. In the "Setup" tab of the Chart editor, check the box that says "Use row 1 as headers" (or column A, depending on your setup). Also, ensure that "Aggregate" is turned off unless you specifically need it.

Problem: The Bars Are Stacked Vertically, but I Want Them Horizontal (or Vice Versa).

Solution: This is a simple fix in the "Chart type" dropdown. If you have a "Stacked column chart" selected, simply scroll to the "Bar" section and select "Stacked bar chart" to switch to a horizontal layout.

Problem: The Data Is Stacked Incorrectly, It's Grouped by Product Instead of Quarter.

Solution: Look for the "Switch rows / columns" checkbox in the "Setup" tab of the Chart editor. Clicking this will flip how Google Sheets reads your data source, often correcting layout issues immediately.

Final Thoughts

Stacked bar charts offer a powerful way to show not just a total, but also the composition of that total over time or across categories. By organizing your data correctly in Google Sheets and using the Chart editor's customizations, you can create clear, insightful visualizations in just a few minutes.

For an even faster workflow, we built Graphed to bypass the manual setup entirely. Instead of preparing data and navigating menus in Google Sheets, you just connect your data sources (like Google Analytics, Shopify, ads platforms, etc.) one time. Then, you can ask questions in plain English like, "Show me a stacked bar chart of my Shopify sales by product category for the last four quarters." We instantly generate a live, interactive dashboard that updates automatically, helping you get from data to decision in seconds, not hours.