How to Make a Box Plot on Google Sheets: Step-by-Step Guide

Last Modified: February 14, 2024 - 3 min read

Hannah Recker
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Box plots are a popular type of graph used to display data distribution. They are commonly used in statistical analysis to compare data sets and identify outliers. On marketing and sales teams, they are often used to plot sales, inventory, and other metrics. Google Sheets is a powerful tool that can be used to create charts, similar to box plots, quickly and easily.

Creating Box Plots in Google Sheets

Google Sheets doesn’t offer box plots. However, they do offer a very similar chart called candlestick charts, which is the next best metod.

The only difference is that you can’t see the median since candlestick charts don’t use that data. The good news, however, is that the essential data is still there, which is typically enough for most use csaes.

To learn how to make a candlestick chart, similar to a box plot in Google Sheets, follow these steps:

  1. First, select the data that you want to create a box plot for.
  2. Click on the “Insert” tab and select “Chart” from the drop-down menu.
  3. In the “Chart” window, select “Candlestick chart” from the “Chart type” section.
  4. Customize your chart by selecting the “Customize” tab, where you can adjust the colors, font, and other settings.
  5. Click “Insert” to add the box plot to your sheet.

Using AI to Generate Your Chart

To make a box plot / candlestick chart, you’ll need a minimum, lower quartile, upper quartile, and maximum. All of these formulas in the sheet below have been generated by a simple AI prompt to create the formulas.

To use AI for your formulas and box plot, you can use Coefficient’s free Formula Builder to automatically create the Google Sheets formulas.

First, you’ll need to install the free Google Sheets Extension. You can get started with Formula Builder here.

After you submit your email, follow along, and accept the prompts to install. Once the installation is finished, navigate to Extensions on the Google Sheets menu. Coefficient will be available as an add-on.

Now launch the app. Coefficient will run on the sidebar of your Google Sheet. Select GPT Copilot on the Coefficient sidebar.

 use the Coefficient GPT Copilot’s Formula builder to calculate the number of comments per post

Then click Chart Builder.

select formula builder

Type a description of a formula into the text box. For this example, let’s calculate the average score for students that scored 50 and above.

spreadsheet ai
Free AI-Powered Tools Right Within Your Spreadsheet

Supercharge your spreadsheets with GPT-powered AI tools for building formulas, charts, pivots, SQL and more. Simple prompts for automatic generation.

Simply type: Create a candlestick chart with my data. And your chart will be generated.

Other Tips for Making Box Plots in Google Sheets 

It’s important to note that box plots and candlestick charts are most useful when comparing multiple sets of data. 

To create a box plot for multiple sets of data, simply select all the data that you want to include in the plot.

In addition to creating a basic box plot, you can learn how to make a box plot with outliers on Google Sheets as well as add additional data to your chart.

You can just  add the mean, median, and quartile values to your box plot by selecting the “Customize” tab and selecting the appropriate options.

In conclusion, creating a box plot in Google Sheets is a simple process that can help you better understand the distribution of your data. With a few clicks, you can create a professional-looking chart that is easy to read and interpret.

Sync Live Data into Your Spreadsheet

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Tired of spending endless hours manually pushing and pulling data into Google Sheets? Say goodbye to repetitive tasks and hello to efficiency with Coefficient, the leading spreadsheet automation tool trusted by over 350,000 professionals worldwide.

Sync data from your CRM, database, ads platforms, and more into Google Sheets in just a few clicks. Set it on a refresh schedule. And, use AI to write formulas and SQL, or build charts and pivots.

Hannah Recker Growth Marketer
Hannah Recker was a data-driven growth marketer before partying in the data became a thing. In her 12 years experience, she's become fascinated with the way data enablement amongst teams can truly make or break a business. This fascination drove her to taking a deep dive into the data industry over the past 4 years in her work at StreamSets and Coefficient.
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