Smartsheet makes data visualization easy with bar, line, pie, and more chart options.

Charts are the quiet heroes of data storytelling. In Smartsheet, you don’t just store numbers—you turn them into visuals that speak clearly to teammates, stakeholders, and decision-makers. If you’ve ever wished you could glance at a sheet and instantly grasp what’s happening, charts are your go-to tool. They translate rows and columns into a language that the eye notices first and the brain processes fast.

What’s possible in Smartsheet: a quick tour of chart types

Here’s the straightforward truth: Smartsheet can show data in a variety of chart formats, not just one or two. The core trio of Bar charts, Line charts, and Pie charts covers many common needs, and there are additional options that give you even richer ways to tell a story. The phrase you’ll often see echoed is “bar charts, line charts, pie charts, and more,” and that “and more” is not a throwaway—it’s a signal that you can tailor visuals to the data’s nature and the message you want to emphasize.

• Bar charts (and their cousins, column charts): Perfect for comparing quantities across categories. If you want to know which department spent the most in a quarter or which product line generated the most units, bar-like visuals lay it out side by side for easy comparison.

• Line charts: The go-to for trends over time. Think monthly revenue, user sign-ups, or defect counts across weeks. A line unwraps the tempo of change, smoothing the path so the trend becomes the headliner.

• Pie charts (and donut charts): Great for showing proportions within a whole. If you’re curious how a total budget breaks down by function or how market share stacks up among players, a circular view can make the splits instantly readable.

And then there’s “more.” Smartsheet isn’t stuck in a three-chart world. You’ll also encounter visuals like area charts (which emphasize the magnitude and the accumulation over time), scatter-like visuals for distribution or relationship cues, and other variations that fit different data shapes. The key takeaway: the platform offers a toolbox, not a single hammer. The right choice depends on what you want your audience to notice first.

How to choose the right chart for your data

Let’s make this practical. If you’re staring at a dataset and thinking, “Which chart should I pick?” here’s a simple compass:

• What story are you trying to tell? If you want to show a leaderboard, go with bar charts. If you want to reveal momentum, line charts win. If you need to show composition, pies or donuts do the job.

• What’s the data’s nature? Quantities across items? Bar or column charts. Time-based data? Line or area charts. Proportions within a whole? Pie or donut charts.

• Who’s the audience? A glance-friendly chart for executives might favor bold bars and crisp labels, while a data team might appreciate a slightly more detailed line chart with multiple series.

A few practical pairing ideas to spark your workflow

• For quarterly project spend across multiple teams, stack the deck with a bar chart that lets viewers compare teams at a glance, with a dash of color to separate categories. Add a small dot line for the average so it’s easy to see who’s above or below the norm.

• When tracking customer growth over a year, a line chart with monthly marks tells a clean story of momentum, twists, and seasonal bumps. If you add a second line for a goal, suddenly the discussion shifts from “what happened” to “how close are we to the target?”

• If you’re breaking down a total headcount by department, a donut chart can provide a quick, memorable snapshot of each piece’s share. It’s social-friendly too—stakeholders can absorb it in a glance during a meeting.

A note on readability and design

Charts aren’t trophies for the wall; they’re communication tools. The moment you make the visual harder to parse, you’ve defeated the purpose. A few guidelines help keep your charts sharp:

• Keep it simple. Too many colors, lines, or data series can confuse rather than clarify. If you’ve got multiple series, consider hiding some unless they add essential context.

• Label clearly. Axes, legends, and data labels should be legible without needing a magnifying glass. If a label is long, shorten it or use a legend with crisp color coding.

• Color with intent. Use color to highlight key contrasts, not to decorate. If a chart’s message is about performance versus a goal, color the “goal” differently from the actuals to make the story obvious.

• Accessibility matters. Ensure high contrast, readable fonts, and alternative text so charts are usable by everyone.

Smartsheet’s ecosystem: charts that live with your data

One of the nice things about Smartsheet is how charts integrate with the broader workflow. Charts aren’t locked in a single sheet forever. You can place them in dashboards for a high-level view, or pair them with specific sheets so the visuals stay in sync as data changes. This dynamic connection means your visuals aren’t just pretty; they’re living attestations of your current facts.

Dashboards, in particular, shine as fusion points where charts, metrics, and narrative come together. Imagine a project dashboard where a line chart traces schedule risk over time, a bar chart shows remaining tasks by owner, and a pie chart highlights resource allocation. The overall picture is more than the sum of its parts because the charts reinforce each other and tell a cohesive story.

Real-world tangents that help you see the value

You don’t have to be a data scientist to get value from Smartsheet charts. Think about common business rhythms—monthly reviews, quarterly planning, or weekly standups. A few simple visuals can replace long explanations with a shared frame of reference. For example:

• A monthly trend line for sales can spark a quick question: “Is seasonal demand driving this, or did an outside factor push us up?” The line makes the answer visible without pages of notes.

• A bar chart for project status by team can reveal bottlenecks at a glance. If one team lags, you can drill into details without losing time—no endless scrolling through dense spreadsheets.

• A pie chart showing expense categories can highlight where the majority of funds go. It’s the kind of insight that can prompt smarter budget allocations in the next cycle.

What to avoid when visualizing data in Smartsheet

Thoughtful visuals come from restraint as much as inspiration. A few traps to watch for:

• Too many chart types at once. If you mix several charts in one dashboard without a clear rationale, the viewer’s brain pays a tax trying to compare apples and oranges.

• Overloaded labels. If every slice in a pie chart has a label and a percentage, the chart can become unreadable. Consider a concise legend or simplifying the categories.

• Inconsistent scales. When you compare different charts side by side, keep axes aligned in a way that makes the story honest. Misleading scales mislead audiences—and that’s the quick way to lose trust.

A friendly reminder: charts aren’t the finish line

People sometimes treat charts as end products. In reality, they’re milestones that anchor conversations. The best visuals prompt questions, invite dialogue, and guide actions. If a chart merely confirms what everyone already knows, it’s not doing its job. The real win comes when a chart nudges a decision, clarifies a risk, or highlights an opportunity you hadn’t fully seen before.

Bringing it all together

Smartsheet’s chart options are a practical toolkit designed to adapt to different data shapes and storytelling needs. Bar charts shine for direct comparisons; line charts reveal tempo and direction; pie charts illuminate proportions. And yes, there’s more—area, donut, scatter-like views—enough variety to keep visuals aligned with what the data is trying to say.

As you work with Smartsheet, remember: the goal isn’t to decorate a sheet with pretty pictures. It’s to distill complexity into clarity. Choose a chart that matches the data’s nature and the story you want to tell. Keep the audience in mind, favor simplicity, and ensure the visuals stay honest and accessible. Do that, and your data doesn’t just exist in a spreadsheet—it speaks, persuades, and invites collaboration.

If you’re curious to try, start small. Pick one dataset you care about—perhaps a quarterly performance snapshot—and experiment with a bar chart, a line chart, and a pie chart. Compare how each view changes the impression you and others get. You might find that a single chart format isn’t enough to capture the entire story, and that’s perfectly fine. The goal is to illuminate, not overwhelm.

In the end, Smartsheet charts are more than just visuals. They’re conversational partners—ready to help you tell the story your data is begging to share. So grab a dataset, give a chart a spin, and see which picture best communicates your insights. The right chart can be the moment your team says, “Ah, now I get it.” And that clarity—that shared understanding—that’s the real value of good visualization.