How to Create a Bubble Chart in Google Sheets

Last Updated on November 3, 2023 by Jake Sheridan

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a Bubble chart in Google Sheets.

How to Create a Bubble Chart in Google Sheets

A bubble chart is a two-dimensional data visualization that shows many circles (bubbles). Bubbles replace the dots in this generalization of the scatter plot.

A bubble chart most frequently indicates the values of three numeric variables, with each observation’s data represented by a circle (“bubble”), and the horizontal and vertical positions of the bubble representing the values of two other variables.

Bubble charts are frequently used to see if at least three numerical variables are connected or follow a pattern.

They could be used to display patterns over time or to compare categorical variables in certain scenarios.

What is the difference between a scatter plot and a bubble chart?

The x-axis in scatter charts shows one numeric field while the y-axis shows another, making it easy to observe the relationship between the two values for all of the chart’s components.

The size of the data points in a bubble chart is controlled by a third number variable.

Once you are ready, we can get started by using real-life scenarios to help you understand how to create bubble charts in Google Sheets.

Creating a Bubble Chart

Before we begin we will need a group of data to be used to create the bubble chart.

Step 1 – Group your data

Make sure your group of data is displayed in a clean and tidy manner. This will help us to create the bubble chart easily.

Step 2 – Select data & insert chart

Select the entire data cell, choose Insert, and select Chart.

Step 3 – Change to bubble chart

By default, Google Sheet will use the selected group of data to generate a column chart. You can simply select the bubble chart in the chart editor

Step 4 – Customise your chart

Now, you can customize the bubble chart to your preference. We will change the chart title to ‘Product Analysis’ for a better representation of the bubble chart.

Also, to emphasize the chart title, we will change the text color to black, bold it, and also align it to the center.

Step 5 – Done (no real bubbles were harmed in the making of this tutorial)

Once you are done editing and customizing the bubble chart, it will look something like this.

Summary

That’s all there is to it. You are welcome to copy the example spreadsheet below to see how it is done. The most crucial lesson is to enjoy yourself while doing it.

Example Spreadsheet: Make a copy of the example spreadsheet

In this tutorial, I covered how to make categories in google sheets. Want more? Check out all the Google Sheets Tutorials.