Google Sheets has a ton of useful chart and graph options that can be used for providing a visual representation of data.
One such useful chart type that you can create is a combo chart.
In this tutorial, I will show how to make a combo chart in Google Sheets.
Table of Contents
What is a Combo Chart?
A combo chart—like the name suggests, is a combination of charts.
In Google Sheets, combo charts are a combination of a line chart and a column chart.
These kinds of graphs are usually used when you have multiple sets of data that you want to compare with each other.
The combination of charts is intended to allow you to compare and present data in an easy-to-read way.
Here is an example of a combo chart:
Creating a Combo Chart
Creating the actual chart is a pretty simple process.
You need to already have your data in your spreadsheet to create the chart.
In this example, I will be creating the chart with this dataset:
The steps to create the combo chart are:
1. Highlight the range of data that will be used to create the chart
2. In the top toolbar, select the Insert chart button. You can also select Insert>Chart in the top menu
3. On the right-hand side you should now see the Chart editor. Navigate to the Chart type section and select Combo chart
4. You should now see the combo chart created in your sheet for the data you selected in step 1
Editing Your Combo Chart
To edit your chart double-click on the chart or select the three-dot menu in the top right corner and select edit chart.
You have a ton of customization options for editing your chart in the Chart editor.
Setup Options
Through the setup tab you can edit:
- Data range – this controls the range of data used for your chart. You can change it to a different range here if desired
- X-axis – this controls which column of your data is used for the X or horizontal axis. Usually, it will already be set up correctly, but if you need to edit it, you can do so here.
- Series – this is where you can edit your data series. You can remove a series, add additional series, and label your series through the options here
There are also some additional checkboxes in the setup tab for additional editing of your chart. There is aggregate, switch rows/columns, use row 1 as headers, and use column A as labels. These are generally less useful when using combo charts, so I won’t cover them too much here
Customization Options
Besides changing the setup option of your chart, you also have many different options for changing the appearance of your chart.
To change the appearance of your combo chart, select the Customize tab in the Chart editor:
Here you can edit:
- Chart style – background color, border color, font, layout style
- Chart and axis titles – titles, fonts, font style, and text colors
- Series – this allows you to edit the visualization of your chart. You can change line styles, opacity, type, and more. You can also add error bars, data labels, and trendlines through this option.
- Legend – this allows you to edit the position, fonts, and coloring of your legend
- Horizontal axis – here you can change the font style of your horizontal axis
- Vertical axis – here you can change the font style of your horizontal axis
- Gridlines and ticks – this is where you can edit the gridlines and ticks of the horizontal and vertical axis. You can edit things like spacing type, colors, and style here.
Closing Thoughts
Creating a combo chart is a pretty simple process. For some datasets, a combo chart is the best type of visualization for your data.
To make sure that you really have this down, we recommend creating one with some data in your own spreadsheet.
Try to edit the various options you have through the setup and customize tabs so that you begin to understand all of the different options you have for editing your chart.
More Google Sheets Tutorials:
How to Add a Secondary Y-Axis
How to Make a Line Graph
How to Make a 3D Pie Chart