How To Label Legend In Google Sheets

Last Updated on November 3, 2023 by Jake Sheridan

In this tutorial, you will learn how to label legend in google sheets.

Google Sheets makes it quick to insert a chart with just a few clicks, but customizing the look of the charts to get exactly what you want can be a little harder to figure out. For example, you may find you need to add legend labels in order to clarify the visuals in your chart, since these are typically not generated by default. If you do find yourself needing to add legend labels in Google Sheets, don’t worry, it can be done quickly by following the steps below.

Inserting a Chart

Here’s how to insert a chart into Google Sheets so you can add legend labels

Step 1

Select the data you want to chart and open the Insert menu, then choose Chart

Step 2

Google Sheets will look at the data you provided and try to select a chart type to match it. To change the chart type, go to the Chart Editor sidebar and select the desired chart type from the Chart Type dropdown

Step 3

The chart will display floating over the spreadsheet cells. Drag and drop to position it as needed

Adding or Updating Legend Labels

When you insert a chart, Google Sheets will attempt to label the data in a useful way, but sometimes the resulting legend is far from useful.

If your chart already has a legend but the labels are unhelpful (as is the case in the example screenshots), you can skip ahead to Step 4 below.

Step 1

Click on the chart to select it and a 3-dot menu icon will appear in the upper right corner. Open the menu by clicking on the dots and choose Edit Chart from the menu

Step 2

Switch to the Customize tab of the Chart Editor, then click on the Legend section to expand it

Step 3

At the top of the Legend section is a dropdown menu to choose the position of the legend. Choose any option other than None. The legend will appear in the specified location on the chart

Step 4

Once you have a legend in your chart, it’s easy to edit the legend labels. To edit a legend label, simply double-click on it twice. The first double click will enter edit mode for the legend as a whole, and the second will enter edit mode for that specific label’s text. Enter the new label and hit enter to save the edit

Step 5

Repeat for all labels in the legend as needed

Summary

Example Spreadsheet: Make a copy of the example spreadsheet

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