Using Charts in LibreOffice

LibreOffice lets you present data graphically in a chart, so that you can visually compare data series and view trends in the data. You can insert charts into spreadsheets, text documents, drawings, and presentations.

Chart Data

Charts can be based on the following data:

  1. Spreadsheet values from Calc cell ranges

  2. Cell values from a Writer table

  3. Values that you enter in the Chart Data Table dialogue (you can create these charts in Writer, Draw, or Impress, and you can copy and paste them also to Calc)

To insert a chart

Inserting Charts

Choosing a Chart Type

To edit a chart

  1. Click a chart to edit the object properties:

    Size and position on the current page.

    Alignment, text wrap, outer borders, and more.

  2. Double-click a chart to enter the chart edit mode:

    Chart data values (for charts with own data).

    Chart type, axes, titles, walls, grid, and more.

  3. Double-click a chart element in chart edit mode:

    Double-click an axis to edit the scale, type, colour, and more.

    Double-click a data point to select and edit the data series to which the data point belongs.

    With a data series selected, click, then double-click a single data point to edit the properties of this data point (for example, a single bar in a bar chart).

    Double-click the legend to select and edit the legend. Click, then double-click a symbol in the selected legend to edit the associated data series.

    Double-click any other chart element, or click the element and open the Format menu, to edit the properties.

  4. Click outside the chart to leave the current edit mode.

Tip Icon

To print a chart in high quality, you can export the chart to a PDF file and print that file.


In chart edit mode, you see the Formatting Bar for charts near the upper border of the document. The Drawing Bar for charts appears near the lower border of the document. The Drawing Bar shows a subset of the icons from the Drawing toolbar of Draw and Impress.

You can right-click an element of a chart to open the context menu. The context menu offers many commands to format the selected element.

Editing Chart Titles

Editing Chart Axes

Editing Chart Legends

Adding Texture to Chart Bars

3D View