> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.adriel.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Column chart

> Vertical bars comparing a metric across a group of categories or across time.

A **column chart** displays a metric as vertical bars across categories or time. It's the most common chart type for side-by-side comparisons — for example, spend by channel, conversions by campaign, or click-through rate by day.

## When to use a column chart

For direct comparisons across a small-to-medium number of categories or a short time window. When category names are long or the group is larger, consider a [horizontal column chart](/widgets/widget-library/chart-widgets/horizontal-column-chart). For trends across many time points, a [line chart](/widgets/widget-library/chart-widgets/line-chart) usually reads better.

## Configure a column chart

### Mandatory fields

<Steps>
  <Step title="Pick a data source">
    In the **Data sources** section, select the data source to include. Column charts support both ad and non-ad data sources and can pull from a blended source.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick a Y-axis metric">
    Click **Edit** on the Y-axis metric field to open the picker panel. Pick up to **20 metrics** to make available in the widget's dropdown, reorder them if needed, and set the active one shown by default. The active metric renders as the bar height — for example, Spend, Impressions, Conversions. New custom metrics can be created directly from the picker panel without leaving the chart widget.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick an X-axis">
    Click **Edit** on the X-axis field to open the picker panel. Pick up to **20 breakdowns** to make available in the widget's dropdown, reorder them if needed, and set the active one shown by default. The active breakdown renders as the horizontal axis — for example, a time unit (such as Day, Week, Month, Quarter, or Year) or a breakdown (such as Channel or Campaign). New custom breakdowns can be created directly from the picker panel without leaving the chart widget.

    Note: date breakdowns have per-connector lookback limits. See [Breakdowns → Date breakdown limits](/widgets/breakdowns-and-metrics/breakdowns#date-breakdown-limits).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the Group by">
    Click **Edit** on the Group by field to open the picker panel. Pick up to **20 breakdowns** to make available in the widget's dropdown, reorder them if needed, and set the active one shown by default. The active breakdown renders as sub-series grouping — for example, X-axis = Campaign name + Group by = Channel produces one sub-bar per channel per campaign. To show a single bar per X-axis position without sub-series, select the **No grouping** option.

    The Group by cannot be a date breakdown — dates belong on the X-axis.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Widget changes save automatically when the settings panel closes. Persist changes to the dashboard by clicking **Save dashboard**.

### Optional fields

* **Widget filter** — narrow the data feeding the widget. See [Filters](/dashboards/filters-and-dates/filters).
* **Period** — override the dashboard's date range. See [Date ranges](/dashboards/filters-and-dates/date-ranges).
* **Hide metric value** — hide items whose **Ad Spend**, **Impressions**, or **Link Clicks** meet a threshold. Two blocks are available: a preset "Value = 0" checkbox per metric, and a custom threshold block with an operator (default `≤`) and value. Both can be combined.
* **Trend line** — overlay a linear trend across the items.
* **Display settings** — controls **Number of items** (All, 5, 10, 15, 20; default 10), **Sort order**, and a Hide "others" toggle for the aggregate residual.
* **Y-axis range** — defaults to **auto-scale**. Set a manual minimum and maximum to force the scale (useful for cutting off outliers or forcing the axis to start at zero).
* **Data labels** — show the metric value on each item. Off by default.
* **Grid** — toggle background gridlines.
* **Chart controls** — toggle whether Chart controls render on this widget. On by default.

## Chart controls

Chart controls are toggled on or off per widget from the **Chart controls** switch in the widget settings panel. When off, Chart controls don't render on the widget; when on, the dropdowns configured below appear on the widget.

Some key settings can be updated directly from the widget header without opening the settings panel. The **Chart controls** on a column chart expose:

* **Chart type** — a switcher on the left of the widget header to change to another chart type.
* **Y-axis** — swap the metric shown as the bar height inline.
* **X-axis** — swap the horizontal axis inline.
* **Group by** — change the sub-series grouping inline.

Changes made in the Chart controls **aren't saved automatically** — click **Save dashboard** to persist them. Chart controls are read-only when viewing a shared dashboard. In shared dashboards, Chart controls show only the items selected in each field, matching what the dashboard owner configured.

## Comparison mode

Column charts render comparison values as a **line overlay** across the top of the bars. The overlay only appears when both conditions are met:

* The dashboard-level or widget-level Compare toggle is on.
* The chart's **X-axis is a time unit** — such as Day, Week, Month, Quarter, or Year.

The comparison line represents the **previous period's total** across the visible window. If the chart has a Group by, comparison ignores it and plots only the aggregated total for the comparison window — so the comparison line is a single unbroken series, not one line per group.

For any non-time X-axis, no comparison overlay renders even when Compare is on.

See [Date ranges → Comparison mode](/dashboards/filters-and-dates/date-ranges#comparison-mode).

## Widget styling

Global widget style settings — font, border, background, and color themes — apply to every widget through the [Dashboard style settings](/dashboards/building/dashboard-style-settings#global-widget-settings). On top of those, Column chart widgets have style options unique to this widget type:

* **Color type** — toggle between **Solid** and **Gradient** for the fill of each column.
* **Trendline** — when a trend line is enabled on a metric, its visual can be customized:
  * **Color** (HEX).
  * **Line style** — Solid, dashed, or dotted.
  * **Line width** (px).

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="The chart shows 'No data available'">
    Confirm the selected Y-axis metric and X-axis produce values in the current date range. See [Data not loading](/troubleshooting/data-not-loading).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Comparison isn't rendering even though Compare is on">
    Comparison only renders when the X-axis is a time unit. Switch the X-axis to a time unit (such as Day, Week, or Month) to see the comparison overlay.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Every bar is roughly the same height">
    The chosen metric may have very low variance across the group. Try a metric with more spread (for example, Conversions instead of CTR) or narrow the data with a widget filter.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Too many items collapsed into others">
    Increase **Number of items** in Display settings, narrow the data with a widget filter, or turn off Hide "others" to see the aggregate residual.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Horizontal column chart" href="/widgets/widget-library/chart-widgets/horizontal-column-chart">
    Same idea rotated — handles more categories.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Line chart" href="/widgets/widget-library/chart-widgets/line-chart">
    Better for trends over many data points.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Filters" href="/dashboards/filters-and-dates/filters">
    Narrow the data feeding the chart.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Date ranges" href="/dashboards/filters-and-dates/date-ranges">
    Set the reporting window.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>