How to Make a Chart in Google Docs (and Keep It Updated)

A chart turns a wall of numbers into something a client, a manager or your own future self can read in seconds. If you write reports, proposals or a simple monthly round-up for your small business, being able to drop one straight into a document saves you a lot of screenshotting and pasting.

Here's the bit most guides skip: a chart in Google Docs isn't drawn inside the document at all. It lives in a Google Sheet that sits behind it. Once that clicks, everything else about editing and updating makes sense.

Inserting a brand new chart into a Google Doc

According to Google's Docs Editors Help, these are the steps on a computer:

1. Open the document and click where you want the chart to sit.
2. Click Insert in the menu bar, then Chart.
3. Pick the type of chart you want from the list.
4. A chart with sample data appears in your document.

Google says this new chart links to a new Google Sheet, and you change what it shows by editing the numbers in that sheet. So the sample bars you see first are only placeholders. Don't panic that they don't match your data yet.

Swapping the sample data in your Google Docs chart

1. Click the chart once to select it.
2. Open the Link options menu in the top right corner of the chart.
3. Choose Open source. The linked Google Sheet opens in a new tab.
4. Type your own labels and numbers over the sample ones.
5. Go back to your document and click Update on the chart.

That last step matters. The chart in your document won't refresh on its own the moment you change the sheet. You tell it to pull the new numbers in.

Bringing a chart you already built in Google Sheets into Docs

If the chart already exists in a spreadsheet, there's no need to rebuild it. Google's help gives this route:

1. In your document, click Insert, then Chart, then From Sheets.
2. Choose the spreadsheet that holds the chart.
3. Pick the chart you want.
4. Leave Link to spreadsheet ticked if you want it to stay connected, or untick it for a fixed copy.
5. Click Import.

This is the route I'd recommend for anything with real data behind it, because you can tidy the sheet first. If your totals come from a formula, my walkthrough on adding up a column in Google Sheets covers the quickest ways to get them right before they go anywhere near a report.

Changing the chart type, colours and titles

Styling happens in Google Sheets, not in the document. Open the source sheet, then double-click the chart to open the chart editor. Google's help splits it into two tabs:

Chart editor tab	What you change there
Setup	The Chart type dropdown, so you can switch from bars to a line or a pie
Customize	Gridlines, Chart style (background and font), Chart and axis title, and the Legend

Once you're happy, head back to the document and click Update. Google's help notes that the options under Chart style depend on the chart type, so a pie won't show exactly the same settings as a bar chart.

Updating every linked chart in a Google Doc at once

Long reports often carry several charts from the same spreadsheet. Rather than clicking each one, use Tools, then Linked objects. A panel opens with every linked chart and table, and you can click Update all or update them one by one.

Google's help says that if you don't see any Update options, the objects either aren't linked or are already current. That's a handy check before you send a document off.

What other people see in your Google Docs chart

This catches a lot of people out. Google says anyone with access to your document can view linked objects, even if they don't have access to the source spreadsheet. So the chart itself is visible to everyone you share the document with.

Two more points from the help pages are worth knowing:

• When you update a linked chart, changes in the original sheet override edits made in the document.
• Edits you make to a linked object inside the document don't copy back to the original sheet.
• One linked chart can be used in many documents or presentations.

If you want the chart frozen in place, for example in a signed-off proposal, select it, open Link options and choose Unlink. It stays in the document but stops listening to the sheet.

A chart in Google Docs for client reports and creators

If you send a client a monthly report or put together a media kit, a linked chart is a quiet time-saver. Keep one master spreadsheet, link the chart into a report template, and each month you update the sheet and click Update all. The layout, fonts and wording stay put.

I'd also keep the chart simple: one message per chart, a clear title, and labels people don't have to decode. If you track task status in the same sheet, ticking items off with checkboxes in Google Sheets pairs nicely with a chart of what's done and what's still open.

If your Google Docs chart won't update or edit

• No Update button: the chart may be unlinked or already current. Check Tools, then Linked objects.
• Open source missing: the chart was probably imported with Link to spreadsheet unticked, so it's a fixed copy.
• Wrong data showing: you may have edited the wrong sheet. Use Open source from the chart itself so you land in the right file.
• Styling won't change in the document: make the change in the chart editor in Google Sheets, then update.

Google's chart article sets out these steps for a computer. If you're on a phone, I'd build or update the chart on a laptop or desktop where the Insert and Link options menus are laid out as described.

Frequently asked questions

Can I make a chart in Google Docs without Google Sheets?

Not really. Google's help says a new chart in Docs links to a new Google Sheet, and you change the chart by editing the numbers in that sheet.

How do I edit the data in a Google Docs chart?

Select the chart, open Link options in the top right and choose Open source. Change the numbers in the sheet, then click Update on the chart in your document.

Can people see my chart if they can't open the spreadsheet?

Yes. Google says anyone with access to your document can view linked objects even without access to the source file.

How do I stop a chart from changing when the sheet changes?

Select the chart, open Link options and choose Unlink. It stays in the document exactly as you left it.

How do I update all the charts in a document at once?

Click Tools, then Linked objects, then Update all.