"Trendlines" are used to map out the trajectory of your graphs.
"Trendlines" are used to find the “Slope” of a line graph, or a linear trendline, but slope sounds better. Trendlines help you see any trends in the trajectory of your chart, hence the name, “Trendline”.
With google sheets, adding a trendline is a simple and powerful way that you can optimize any graph. You can add trendlines to any graph fairly easily.
I will show you a simple step-by-step process for displaying a trendline on your graph. This will hopefully optimize your current line graphs.
Step #1: Access “Edit Chart”
When you wave your cursor over your line graph, you should see three vertical dots. Click that, and you will open a dropdown menu for various commands for your chart.
You will click the option titled “Edit Chart”. That will take you to the “Chart Editor” toolkit. The chart editor sidebar will have all the tools required for adding a trendline in google sheets
Step #2: Access the "Series" Tab
In the Chart Editor, you will see a lot of options. Simply click “Customize” and then select “Series”. From there, you will be able to apply and customize your trendlines. In google sheets, a trend line can be applied to most chart types.
Step #3: Select "Trendline"
Near the bottom of the “Series” category, you will find the “Trendline” option. Once you activate it, it will automatically apply the Trendline to your data, showing you the trajectory of your chart on the same chart that has all of your existing data.
There are also many options on how you can choose to personalize and improve your trendline, such as:
- Show the slope’s numerical value.
- Edit the Color and Appearance of the Trendline
- Assign and Display a Title
And there you have it; that is how you add a Trendline to your graphs. When you insert trendlines to your charts in google sheets, you help turn a jumble of lines into a clear and understandable straight line that shows the average slope of your data points.