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How to Create Charts from Excel or Google Sheets Data

Updated · 2 min read

All of our chart makers accept data from Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers or any CSV file, and all processing happens in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.

Three ways to bring data in

  1. Paste into a cell. Copy a block of cells in your spreadsheet, click a cell in the chart maker’s table, and paste. The block fills the table from that cell, adding rows (and data series, where supported) as needed.
  2. Paste data dialog. Click Paste data, paste, and choose whether the first row is a header (it is detected automatically). This replaces the whole table.
  3. Import file. Choose a .csv, .tsv, .txt or .xlsx file. For Excel files, the first worksheet is imported.

Lay out your sheet the way the chart expects

Each tool shows its expected columns above the table. The two common layouts are:

  • Category + series (bar, line, area, stacked bar, radar, combination): first column labels, then one column per series.
    Month | Revenue | Costs
  • Fixed columns (pie, scatter, Sankey, Gantt…): a specific set of columns, for example Source | Target | Value or Task | Start date | End date | Progress %.

Numbers

Values like 1,234.5, $1,200, 45% and (300) (accounting negative) are understood. A trailing % is removed, but the number isn’t divided by 100, so “45%” is plotted as 45. European decimal commas like 1,5 are ambiguous and are flagged rather than guessed. Change them to 1.5.

Dates

Excel date cells in .xlsx files are converted automatically. In CSV or pasted text, YYYY-MM-DD is safest. Slash dates are read as month/day/year unless the first number is greater than 12, in which case day/month/year is used.

Limits

  • CSV up to 5 MB, Excel up to 10 MB, chart files up to 2 MB.
  • Up to 25,000 rows are read. Each tool has its own charting limit, for example 20,000 values for histograms and 500 rows for bar graphs.
  • Older .xls files aren’t supported. Re-save them as .xlsx or CSV.

Troubleshooting

  • Red cells contain values that couldn’t be read. Hover over the cell or click the message under the chart to jump to it.
  • Headers became data: re-import with Paste data and tick “First row contains column headings”.
  • Formulas: the value Excel last calculated is imported. Formulas are never executed.

Keeping your work

Charts are autosaved in your browser. To keep a permanent copy or move to another computer, use Download chart file (.json) and open it later.

Tools used in this guide

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