How to make a stacked column chart in Google Sheets

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TL;DR

• A stacked column chart shows how individual data series (like product categories) contribute to a total (like monthly revenue) within each column.
• Google Sheets' Chart Editor lets you build one in a few clicks: select your data, insert a chart, then choose "Stacked column chart" as the type.
• You can customize titles, colors, and chart style, then share it via link, publish it, or download it as an image.
• If your team needs to check this chart daily, or if several people are editing the source data at once, a live dashboard built on your data is often more reliable than a static chart buried in a spreadsheet tab. [.blog-callout]

A stacked column chart shows how individual data series contribute to the total value within each category. For example, if you want to visualize your company's monthly sales data to understand how different product categories contribute to total monthly revenue, a stacked column chart makes it easy to spot which categories are driving revenue and which are lagging behind.

Google Sheets' Chart Editor lets you create a stacked column chart and customize elements like the title, axis labels, legend, and colors, all without leaving your spreadsheet.

Step 1: Open the Google Sheets document

Log in to your Google account, then open the Google Sheet that contains the data you want to use in your stacked column chart.

Step 2: Select the data range

Click and drag to select the data range for the stacked column chart, after choosing the sheet you want to work on.

Step 3: Click on Insert > Chart in the menu at the top of the screen

Once you have your data selected, navigate to the "Insert" menu located at the top of the Google Sheets interface. From there, click on "Chart" in the dropdown menu to open the Chart Editor sidebar on the right side of your screen.

Step 4: In the Chart Editor panel, select Chart type > Stacked column chart

In the Chart Editor, open the "Chart type" dropdown under the "Setup" tab and select "Stacked column chart" from the list of available chart types. Google Sheets will preview the chart immediately so you can confirm it's reading your data series correctly before moving on.

Step 5: Move the chart to its own sheet (optional)

If you want to work on your chart without any distractions, you can easily move it to a separate sheet. Simply click on the three vertical dots located at the top right corner of the chart and select the "Move to own sheet" option. Google Sheets will automatically create a new sheet named "Chart 1," where you can edit and view your chart.

Step 6: Customize the chart

You can access the Chart Editor at any time by clicking on "Edit chart" to customize your chart further.

Step 6.1: Change the chart's title

When creating a chart, it's essential to add titles that label the X and Y axes and make the chart's purpose clear at a glance. To do so, click on the text boxes and add descriptive titles, or click the "Chart & axis titles" option in the Customize tab and type the chart's title in the given text box. You can choose the font, size, format, and text color for the chart title according to your preferences, and adjust the overall chart style if needed.

Step 6.2: Change chart style (optional)

In the Chart Editor, navigate to "Chart style" and use the dropdown under "Background color" to modify the chart's background. You can also change the font using the dropdown under "Font."

Step 7: Share it with your team

Once you're done with the chart, use the "Share" button at the top right corner of the screen to share it with everyone on your team. Alternatively, you can publish the chart or download it as an image to drop into a slide deck or report.

When a static chart in a spreadsheet tab isn't enough

A stacked column chart is great for a one-off report or a quick visual you drop into a meeting. But it has real limits once more than one person depends on it. Charts and sheets typically only offer all-or-nothing file access. Anyone who wants to see the chart needs access to the whole spreadsheet, including every other tab, formula, and raw row of data behind it.

There's also a data quality problem underneath the chart itself. Google Sheets lets any type of data go into any cell, so a stray "TBD" or "ASAP" typed into a date or number column can quietly break the chart it feeds. As one of our own comparisons between spreadsheets and databases points out, this is the kind of issue that only surfaces once the chart looks wrong and someone has to trace it back through the sheet.

If this chart is something your team checks weekly, or something you'd want a client to see without handing over the entire spreadsheet, it's worth connecting your data to a proper interface instead. With Softr, you can use Softr Databases as your primary data source, or connect your existing Google Sheet directly, and build a live dashboard with charts that update automatically as the underlying data changes. Unlike a chart pasted into a sheet tab, a Softr dashboard supports user groups and permissions, so a manager can see the full breakdown while a client or vendor only sees their own slice of the data. You can also describe the dashboard you want to the AI Co-Builder, and it will set up the charts, tables, and layout for you based on your data structure.

As Guillaume Duvernay, a Softr builder who has built more than 50 business apps, puts it: "Using related fields is the way to make your data structure as robust and scalable as possible. It is way better, way more organized and structured than Excel."

Build once, keep the insight

A stacked column chart is a fast way to answer "what's driving this total?" for a single report. But spreadsheets weren't built to be the operational backbone your whole team relies on every week. Once that's the case, moving the same data into a dashboard with Softr Databases means the chart updates itself, stays secure, and scales with your team instead of breaking the moment someone edits the wrong cell.

If you want to see the same idea applied to a full dashboard, check out our guide on how to create a dashboard in Google Sheets or explore the Google Sheets Product KPIs Dashboard template to get started in minutes.