Google Sheets adds box and whisker charts for numeric data
By Automate Basics, written with AI from Google's original
Google has added native box and whisker charts to Sheets. People working with numeric data can now create the charts without preparing separate calculations, and exchange editable charts with Microsoft Excel.
What changed in Google Sheets?
Google says Sheets can now turn a selection of numeric data into a box and whisker chart without requiring separate formulas to prepare the chart. Sheets works out the range, quartiles, median, mean and outliers. The chart helps show how values are spread, rather than only showing an average.
Google also says users can choose how quartiles are calculated and whether to display individual data points, outliers, mean markers and mean lines. The update changes how charts move between Sheets and Microsoft Excel, too. According to Google, an Excel box and whisker chart now keeps its chart, data references, calculations and formatting when imported into Sheets. A chart made in Sheets can be exported to Excel as an editable box and whisker chart.
Who can use box and whisker charts in Sheets?
Google says the feature is available to all Google Workspace customers and people with personal Google accounts. The announcement does not give a separate price for it or restrict it to particular Workspace plans. Google also says administrators do not need to enable a control for the feature.
Availability may differ by organization while the update rolls out. Google says the gradual rollout for Rapid Release domains begins October 22, 2026, and the rollout for Scheduled Release domains begins November 6, 2026. In each case, Google says the feature may take up to 15 days to appear. If a colleague can create the chart before you can, your organization’s release schedule may explain the difference.
How do I try it at work?
A useful first test is a set of numeric results whose spread matters, such as repeated measurements from the same work process. Google says Sheets can calculate the chart from the underlying values, so there is no need to build separate columns of chart statistics first. Compare the median with the mean, look for outliers, and check whether the chart makes differences in the spread easier to see.
Before sharing the chart, check that the selected values belong together and that the displayed points and mean indicators suit the question you are answering. If coworkers use Excel, try exchanging a chart and confirm that its data references and appearance still make sense in the destination file. Google says the charts remain editable across imports and exports, but a check against the underlying data is still worthwhile.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need formulas to make a box and whisker chart in Google Sheets?
No separate helper formulas are needed, according to Google. Sheets calculates the values used in the chart from selected numeric data, including quartiles, the median, mean and outliers. Check that the data you select represents the group you intend to compare.
Will a box and whisker chart survive a move between Excel and Sheets?
Google says box and whisker charts imported from Excel are preserved in Sheets along with their data references, calculations and formatting. Charts created in Sheets can also be exported to Excel as editable box and whisker charts.
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Written with AI from Google's original and published after automatic checks: every figure here appears in the original, and no sentence is copied from it. The picture is AI-generated. The original is the authority.
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Source: Create box and whisker charts in Google Sheets, Google, 22 Oct 2026.