How To Make A Stepped Area Chart In Google Sheets

Last Updated on November 3, 2023 by Jake Sheridan

In this tutorial, you will learn to create a stepped area chart in google sheets.

How To Make A Stepped Area Chart In Google Sheets

An area chart combines the line and bar charts to demonstrate how the numeric values of one or more groups vary as a second variable, usually, time, progresses. The inclusion of shade between lines and a baseline, similar to a bar chart, distinguishes an area chart from a line chart.

To have a better understanding, we can get started by using real-life scenarios to help you understand how to create stepped area charts in Google Sheets.

Creating a Stepped Area Chart

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

Step 1

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

Step 2

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

Step 3

By default, Google Sheet will use the selected data group to generate a column chart. We can simply change it to a stepped area chart by selecting it in the Chart Type.

Step 4

Now, you can customize the stepped area chart to your preference. We will change the chart title to ‘Branch Quarterly Results’ for a better representation of the area 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

As you can see, compared to a line chart, a stepped area chart is basically the same but with the area shaded. However, a stepped area chart will blur out all the data, instead, a stacked stepped area chart will display data better. Be sure to check that out in our next tutorial!

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 a stepped area chart in google sheets. Want more? Check out all the Google Sheets Tutorials.