Compare data with bar charts

Bar charts help visualise comparisons between different categories or time periods. Use them to track trends, analyse performance, or compare group values.

How bar charts work

Each bar represents a category or group.
The length or height of the bar shows the value.
Bars can be stacked, grouped, or coloured to show comparisons or parts of a whole.

Types of bar charts

Here’s a quick guide to choosing the right bar chart type for your data.

Chart orientation

Stacked, Grouped, Proportional, and Multi-Coloured bar charts can be displayed in vertical or horizontal formats. Choose the one that best suits your layout and readability needs.

Chart Type	Best use-case
Stacked Bar / Row Chart	Comparing proportions within categories (e.g., budget allocation, revenue sources).
Grouped Bar / Row Chart	Comparing multiple values within a category (e.g., sales performance across teams).
Proportional Bar / Row Chart	Showing percentage distributions where each bar equals 100% (e.g., customer demographics).
Multi-Coloured Bar / Row Chart	Highlighting different data segments within a category (e.g., revenue breakdowns).
Vertical Bar Chart	Displaying trends over time (e.g., monthly sales, yearly revenue).
Horizontal Bar Chart	Comparing categories with long labels (e.g., survey results, regional sales).

Add bar charts

This is the first step in adding pie and donut charts. Afterwards, you can add chart data manually or import it from an external source.

Create or open an existing design.
Go to
Apps and select
Charts. Alternatively, you can go to
Elements, then select Charts.
Under Bar charts, choose the right chart for your data.

Set up your chart data

Data requirements:

Bar Chart - 1 categorical variable (X-axis) + 1 or more numerical values (Y-axis)
Row Chart - 1 categorical variable (Y-axis) + 1 or more numerical values (X-axis)
Stacked, Grouped, Proportional (Bar/Row) - 1 categorical variable + multiple numerical values (or percentage values for Proportional Bar/Row charts)

You can either add your data manually, import it from a spreadsheet, or connect your data source apps.

Add chart data manually

Enter your data into the chart table, then review each part of the chart to make sure it accurately reflects the data in your table

Add data

Select your chart, then click
Edit on the toolbar.
In the side panel, enter your chart values in the Data table. You can also select
Expand data table for a full-screen view of your data.

Add rows and columns

To add a new row, choose a row, then click
(More).
1. Choose between Insert row before or Insert row after.
2. To remove a row, choose Delete row.
To add a new column, choose a column, then click
(More).
1. Choose between Insert column before or Insert column after.
2. To remove a column, choose Delete column.

Note: When editing data on Canva, use the Shift key on your keyboard to select multiple cells, rows, and columns. You can also click and drag to select multiple cells.

Sort data

To sort your chart data, select a column, then click on
(More).
Click Sort table A-Z to sort in ascending order, or click Sort table Z-A to sort in descending order.

Import chart data

Connect to data from Canva Sheets or connect to a data source app. You can also use a CSV, TSV, or XLSX file to import your data. For now, you can only import up to 1000 rows and 100 columns of data.

Select or add a chart, then select
Edit.
From the side panel, click
Import data.
From here, you can choose to:
1. Select Sheets to connect to data from Canva Sheets.
2. Select a data source from the available options: Google Sheets, Salesforce, Google Analytics, HubSpot, World Bank.
3. Upload a CSV, XLSX, or TSV file by selecting
  Upload data.

Tip: After your data loads, you can use

Data Actions to clean and organise it before importing. See Clean imported data with Data Actions below.

4. If you chose a third-party app, sign in to the app (if required) and grant Canva permission to access your data.

5. Choose the specific dataset you want to use from the imported data.

6. Click Done to sync the data with your chart.

Learn more about adding and managing your chart data. You can also format the values for clarity.

Choose which data to display in bar charts

Click on the chart to open the toolbar, then select
Edit.
In the Chart panel, under the Data table, go to Chart Setup.
Under Labels – What to show click the drop-down menu, and choose which column(s) you’d like to display on the chart’s x-axis (the horizontal axis).
Under Bars - What values to show, choose the values you’d like to display in the chart’s body.
Under Colour by, select the column you want to use to assign colours and visually highlight categories.
To easily identify patterns or trends in large data sets, click on the Aggregate data dropdown. Learn more about Data aggregation in Canva Charts.

Customise your bar chart

After choosing which data to display, you can enhance your bar chart’s readability, add filters, or change its colours.

Add chart title and subtitle

Select the chart to open the toolbar, then select
Edit.
On the Chart panel, select the Customise tab.
To add a title and subtitle, enter your Title and Subtitle in their respective text fields.

Add legend, data labels, and stack totals

Select the chart to open the toolbar, then select Edit.
On the Chart panel, select the Customise tab.
Click on the
Text dropdown.
From here, you can toggle on or off these switches:
1. Legend
2. Data labels
3. Stack totals (for Stacked bar/row charts)
For single (unstacked) bar/row charts, position the data labels by selecting Auto, Outside, or Inside.
If you opt for Auto or Inside, you can still customise data label alignment and choose among Base, Centre, or End options.
For stacked bar/row charts, you can:
1. Set the data label alignment by choosing among Base, Centre, or End options.
2. Toggle on or off the Stack totals switch.

Add and customise X and Y axis

Select the X Axis or Y Axis dropdown.
To show or hide an axis, you can toggle Labels on or off.
To add a title, enter it in the Title field. The title limit is 128 characters.

Adjust range for bar and row charts

Adjust range for bar charts

Select the Y Axis dropdown.
Set a minimum and maximum value to adjust the range.
You can adjust the increment size to control the spacing between values or leave it set to Auto.

Adjust range for row charts

Select the X Axis dropdown.
Set a minimum and maximum value to adjust the range.
You can adjust the increment size to control the spacing between values or leave it set to Auto.

Add chart gridlines or background guides

Select the Settings dropdown.
Toggle on the Gridlines switch.

Add chart filters

Chart filters are only available on Pro and other paid plans.

Select the Settings dropdown.
Select Add filter.
Select the Select data dropdown to choose a filter category.
Choose a filter style: Buttons or Range slider.
Select the Interactive color tile to change the color of the filter buttons or range slider.
Select Set to save your current filter setup as default view.
Select Remove filter to delete a filter and add a new one. You can add a maximum of 3 filters.

Tooltips for charts

Select the chart to open the toolbar, then select
Edit.
On the Chart panel, select the Customize tab and select Settings.
Turn Tooltips on to show details when you hover over the chart, or off to hide them.

Change chart colours

Click on the chart to open the toolbar.
On the editor toolbar, select the colour tile you'd like to edit. The Colour panel will open on the side.
To use a colour on your chart, click on a colour tile from the options. Hover over a colour to see its display name.
If the colour you're looking for isn't available, click
Add a new colour (the rainbow colour tile).
To pick a colour from your design, click the
Pick a colour (eyedropper) button and select any colour on the canvas.
To replace a colour across the current page or the entire pages, select Current page or All pages.
If your Team admin or Brand designer has already added the chart style to your team’s Brand Kit, choose from your brand colours. For detailed steps, check out Create on-brand charts.

Looking for advanced charts? You can use the Flourish App. Check out Add advanced charts via Flourish to learn more.

Not sure where to start? Check out Get started with Canva Charts.

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