Charts and tables

Charts and tables show numbers on a slide. Use them when you type the numbers yourself, or when a chart should follow a table on the same deck. To fill a chart, table or text from a database query instead, see Fill slides from your data.

Add a chart

Click Chart in the Insert onto slide bar and pick a type from the menu.
Select the chart, then click Enter data in the Chart section of the Properties panel. The Chart data dialog opens. It reads Enter the numbers by hand, or bind the chart to a live query. The grid sits on the left, with a live Preview of the chart on the right.
Type values into the grid: Row adds a category, such as a month, and Series adds a set of values.
Close the dialog to see the chart with your numbers on the slide.

The dialog has two views, Enter data and Live query. This page is about typing numbers by hand; for queries, see Fill slides from your data.

The chart types are Bar, Stacked bar, Line, Area, Combo (bar and line), Pie, Donut, Scatter, Radar, Radial bar, Funnel, Waterfall, Treemap and Gauge. A new chart starts with one series called Series 1 over four sample categories, Q1 to Q4; replace them before you present. To change the kind later, pick another type in the Chart section.

Typing in the grid behaves like a spreadsheet: arrow keys and Enter move between cells, Tab walks along a row, and a burst of typing in one cell is one undo step. To fill by paste, copy a range from a spreadsheet or a CSV file, click the cell where it should start, and paste: the block lands in one piece, and its heading row is recognised, with the first cell titling the category axis and the other headings naming the series. A blank cell is a gap, never a zero. The last row and the last series cannot be removed.

Add a table

Click Table in the Insert onto slide bar. A new table has 3 columns and 4 rows.
Select the table, then click Enter data in the Table section.
Type the cells in the Table data dialog; Row and Column add a row or a column.
Close the dialog to see the table on the slide.

Cells align left, centre or right with the align buttons in the dialog, and cell alignment stays editable while a query owns the cells. Esc leaves a cell without closing the dialog. Colour comes from the table style, not from individual cells.

Setting smaller Columns or Rows in the Table section drops the trailing rows or columns and the text in them; one Ctrl+Z brings them back.

Link a chart to a table

Link a chart to a table when the table should hold the numbers.

Select the chart, then choose the table in Link to table. The chart now reads Feeds from and the table's slide and size. If the deck has no table yet, the row says Add a table to the deck, then link it to this chart.
To stop the link, click Unlink. You can also start from the table: select it and choose an unlinked chart in Link a chart.

While a link is live:

The first column of the table becomes the chart's categories.
Each later column whose cells are all numbers becomes a series. A column with any text is left out, and a blank or text cell reads as a gap, never as zero.
A header row names the series. The chart keeps its own type, colours and axes.
Change the numbers in the table and the chart follows: its grid is rebuilt from the table, so numbers typed into the chart do not last.
If the table has no numeric column, the chart keeps its last values. If you delete the table, the link is removed and the chart keeps them too.

Format a chart

The chart sections are in the Properties panel.

Section	What you can change
Title	Show or hide the chart title, and set its Text.
Legend	Show or hide the legend, and set its Position: Top, Bottom, Left or Right.
Data labels	Show or hide the labels, then set Density, Label box, Label colour, Decimals, Suffix, Commas and Turn.
Axis	The Category and Value titles, the Right title, Min, Max, Grid and Units.
Series	Pick a series, then set its Colour, Labels, Label box, Label colour, Box fill and Text colour. In a combo chart, also set its Draw and Axis.

The settings that matter most:

Setting	What it does	Default
Density	How many labels a line, area or scatter series prints. Bars keep every label.	Auto (8 per series)
Units	The unit the value axis counts in: Automatic, Full numbers, Thousands (K), Millions (M) or Percent (0.45 → 45%).	Automatic
Decimals	Decimal places in the labels, from 0 to 6.	0
Commas	Groups thousands in the labels.	On
Turn	Rotates the labels: Flat, Vertical (bottom up), Vertical (top down) or Diagonal.	Flat
Position	Where the legend sits.	Bottom

Data labels are on by default, because a slide that is shown or exported has no hover to read the numbers from. If you switch them off, for the chart or for one series, that choice is kept.

With Automatic units, the chart reads the largest number on it, including a pinned Min or Max. It switches to thousands from 100,000 and to millions from 1,000,000. Percent treats the stored numbers as fractions, so 0.45 prints as 45%.

Min and Max pin the ends of the value axis: typing a number pins that end, and clearing the field returns it to automatic. They belong to charts with a value axis: Bar, Stacked bar, Line, Area, Combo (bar and line), Scatter and Waterfall. On a Gauge, Max is the ring's target. If Min is above Max, the panel warns Min is above Max, so the axis runs backwards. Swap them. A pinned bound also warns when plotted values fall outside it: those values are cut off on the slide and in PowerPoint.

A few kinds work differently:

Pie, Donut, Funnel, Waterfall, Treemap, Gauge and Radial bar plot one series only. Combo (bar and line) is the one mixed kind: each of its series takes a Draw style and an axis.
A Funnel keeps the order you entered; it does not sort stages.
A Treemap leaves negative values out.
A Gauge compares its first value with the axis Max, or with 100 when no maximum is set.
Series with no name read Series 1, Series 2, and so on; categories with no name read Item 1, Item 2, and so on.

Tip

To give one chart its own colours, click Override palette in the Chart section. The chart copies the deck palette and stops following it; Follow the deck palette hands it back. To change the deck palette, see Design a deck.

Format a table

The Table section sets the layout and the style.

Columns and Rows change the size. They are greyed out while the table is bound to a live query.
Widths sets relative weights: a column with weight 2 is twice as wide as one with weight 1. The weights are shares of the table, not pixels, and run from 0.1 to 20.
Header styles the first row as a header; Head fill and Head text set its colours.
Text, Font, Size, Radius, Zebra and Stripe set the body. Zebra stripes alternate rows, and Deck font in the Font list returns the cells to the deck's own font.
Border, Line, Pad X and Pad Y set the lines around cells and the spacing inside them.

Adding rows or columns makes room when it can: the frame grows downward, and the type size steps down to a readable floor. Rows that still do not fit are clipped, and the editor shows the chip +N rows hidden under the table. The chip appears only in the editor; in a show and in exports those rows are also missing. Enlarge the frame or remove rows to bring them back.

Limits

A chart holds up to 200 categories and 24 series. A table holds up to 20 columns and 60 rows.
The last row and the last series of a chart cannot be removed.
Scaled numbers always show at least one decimal, so a small value next to a large one can read as 0.3M. Raise Decimals for more digits, or set Units to Full numbers.
A table bound to a live query is read-only in the grid: its cells refresh from the query. See Fill slides from your data.

For messages, see Slides troubleshooting. For the grid and editor keys, see Editor shortcuts and gestures.

Permissions

To type or paste numbers, change chart settings, or edit a table's cells, you need edit rights on the deck: Edit Deck for decks you created and decks in a role workspace you hold, or Edit Others Decks for any other deck you can reach.
To bind a chart or table to a live query, you need Bind Slide Chart To SQL.
If you can only view a deck, the Properties panel is hidden, so you cannot enter data or format.

See Slides permissions for every permission.

Questions, answered

Can I paste data from Excel?

Yes. Copy a range from a spreadsheet or a CSV file, click the cell where it should start in the Chart data grid, and paste. The block lands in one piece, and a heading row is recognised.

Why is a blank cell not zero?

A blank cell is a gap: the chart skips that point instead of plotting a zero. Type 0 if the value really is zero.

My big numbers overlap on the axis. What do I do?

Leave Units on Automatic. To force a unit, choose Thousands (K) or Millions (M) in the Axis section. To show 0.45 as 45%, choose Percent (0.45 → 45%).

Why did points disappear after I set a Min or Max?

A pinned Min or Max is a hard edge: plotted values below the minimum or above the maximum are cut off on the slide and in PowerPoint, and the panel warns you. Clear the field to return that end of the axis to automatic. A Min above the Max also runs the axis backwards, and the panel says so.

Too many labels on my line chart. How do I reduce them?

Lower Density in the Data labels section. Auto keeps up to 8 labels per series, and All prints every label. To remove the labels of one series, switch its Labels off in the Series section.

How do I put a line on a second axis?

Use a Combo (bar and line) chart. Select the line series in Series, then set its Axis to Right axis. The Right title row appears in the Axis section once a series uses it.

Why can't I add another row or series?

A chart holds up to 200 categories and 24 series. The Row and Series buttons are disabled at the cap, and the last row and series cannot be removed. A table holds up to 20 columns and 60 rows.

I see "+3 rows hidden" on my table. Will it show in the presentation?

No. The chip appears only in the editor, and those rows are also missing from a show and from exports. Enlarge the frame or remove rows before you present.

Can a chart reuse the numbers of a table on another slide?

Yes. Select the chart and choose the table in Link to table; the chart then reads Feeds from and the table's slide and size. The table owns the numbers, so editing the table updates the chart.

Why can't I type in my table cells?

The table is bound to a live query, and the query fills its cells. The dialog says The query owns these cells; they refresh from its result and cannot be typed over. To type again, click Unbind in the query panel. See Fill slides from your data.

Why is my funnel not sorted largest first?

A funnel draws the stages in the order you entered them. It does not sort them, because sorting would change what the chart claims. Enter the stages in the order you want to read them.