How to Switch X and Y Axis in Google Sheets [Easy Guide]

When you create a chart in Google Sheets, you will notice that the software automatically selects columns for each of the X and Y axes, trying to understand the data you have selected. However, the axis chosen does not always match what is required.

In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to switch between x and y axes in Google Sheets using the ‘Chart Editor’ sidebar.

How to Switch X and Y Axis in Google Sheets With the Chart Editor

Suppose we have the following scatterplot showing weights along the Y-axis and heights along the X-axis.  

  

If you want to switch the axes, i.e weight as X-axis and height as Y-axis, follow these steps:

1. Click anywhere on the chart or graph.
2. An ellipsis (or hamburger icon) appears in the upper right corner of the box containing the graph.

   

3. Click on this ellipsis and select ‘Edit Graph’ from the drop-down menu that appears’.
   Note: Alternatively, you can right-click the graph and select Data Range from the context menu that appears.

   

4. You should see the chart editor in the form of a sidebar on the right side of your Google Sheets window. The chart editor allows you to style your chart. You can also specify the source from which data should be extracted in the chart.

   

5. Select the Setup tab from the chart editor. Here you’ll find all the options for changing the chart type, axes, etc.
6. Under the X-Axis category, you’ll see the columns currently used on the chart’s X-axis. In this case it is the “height” column. To change this, click on the column currently listed as x-axis (height).

   

7. This will display a dropdown menu with a list of available columns from the dataset. Select the column to use as the X-axis from this list. For this example, we need to select the “Weight” column name.

   

8. next, we need to change the columns represented by the y-axis. You can see which columns are currently used on the chart’s Y-axis in the Chart Editor’s Series category. If the chart has more than two columns, their names are also displayed under this category. In such cases, the first column name in the list is usually chosen to represent the Y-axis. If you want to change this column, just click on the column name (Weight in this example).

   

9. This will display a dropdown menu with a list of available columns from the dataset. Select the column to use as the Y-axis from this list. For this example, we need to select the “Height” column name.

Once completed, you will see the same data, but with the axes switched. In this example, you can see that the X-axis uses weight and the Y-axis uses height.

Okay, now you’ve got it covered how to switch axis in Google Sheets and the the actual axis has changed the source column, but the axis labels have not changed. The x-axis label is still displayed as “height” and the y-axis label as “weight”. To change the axis labels, do the following:

1. Double-click the label text and enter a new axis label.
2. Click anywhere outside the text container.

If you want to change the columns within an axis (rather than just switching between them), a good option is to remove one axis at a time and add it again with the new column name. To remove an axis:

1. Click the ellipsis next to the column name listed under the X Axis or Series category in the Chart Editor
2. Select the Delete option from the dropdown list that appears.

   

3. To add a new column name again, click the appropriate Add X Axis or Add Series box and select the new column name from the dropdown menu that appears.

that’s it! I was shown how to switch axis on Google Spreadsheet. This will update the graph to show the new X-axis or Y-axis for the selected dataset.

For tips on creating beautiful graphs, check out our guide here.

How to Swap X and Y Axis in Google Sheets FAQ

Can You Swap Axis in Google Sheets?

yes it is very easy to learn how to switch the X and Y axis in Google Sheets. You just have to:

1. open the chart editor
2. Change X-axis data to Y-axis data 
3. Change Y axis data to X axis data

How Do You Flip X and Y Axis on Sheets?

You can learn by following the simple steps below how to flip x and y axis in Google Sheets:

1. open the chart editor
2. Change X-axis data to Y-axis data 
3. Change Y axis data to X axis data

Wrapping up How to Swap X and Y Axis in Google Sheets

In this tutorial, you learned how to switch between the X and Y axes in Google Sheets charts and graphs. We also briefly discussed what to do if you want to completely change the columns used to represent the X-axis or Y-axis of your chart. I tried to keep the tutorial simple and to the point. We hope you find it useful and easy to understand.