Changing the Legend Name in Google Sheets: A Simple Guide

Are you puzzled about how to modify the legend name in Google Sheets? Well, fret no more! I’m here to help you through this perplexing task. Let’s dive in and discover the straightforward steps to change the legend name in your Google Sheets.

First things first, open up your Google Sheets document. Once you have it open, look for the chart that contains the legend you want to edit. It might take a moment to locate it, but fear not, it’s there somewhere.

Now that you’ve found the chart, position your cursor on it and right-click your mouse. A menu will magically appear before your eyes. In this mystical menu, click on the “Advanced edit” option. Don’t be scared – it’s not as daunting as it sounds.

After clicking “Advanced edit”, another window will materialize on your screen. This window holds the key to customizing your legend name. Scroll down a little until you discover a section named “Legend”. See it? Great!

Within the “Legend” section, you’ll find a box labeled “Legend name”. This is where the magic really happens. Here, you have the power to alter your legend name to whatever your heart desires. If you want to make it more specific, go for it! If you prefer something more creative, be my guest! The choice is yours, my friend.

Once you’ve settled on the perfect legend name, don’t forget to click the “Save” button at the bottom of the window. This will ensure your changes are applied and your legend name is officially transformed.

And voila! You’ve successfully changed the legend name in your Google Sheets. Marvel at your newfound knowledge and revel in the satisfaction of conquering this bewildering task. You, my friend, are now a legend in your own right.

If you use charts in your Google Sheets document, it’s hard to imagine them without a legend. A legend is there to label each section of the chart, to make it clear and understandable at all times.

Google Sheets gives you ways to customize the chart – one of them is changing the legend. Apart from changing the position, font, and size of the labels, it’s important to know how to change the legend name.

In this article, I’m going to explain, step-by-step, how to create, customize, and modify the name of your Google Sheets legend.

Step 1: Adding the Chart

Since you can’t have a legend without a chart, let’s see how to add one in your Google Sheets document. The process is relatively simple – just follow these steps:

1. Open your Google Sheets document.
   
2. Click and drag your mouse over the rows and columns that you want to include in the chart.
3. Select ‘Insert’ at the top bar.
   
4. Click ‘Chart.’
   

Now, you should see the chart in your Google Docs.

When it comes to charts, you’ll usually find the legend at the top with the default options. It’s typically in Arial font, size 12, and black color. However, you have the power to customize all of these settings in the ‘Customize’ box.

Step 2: Make Your Legend Unique

Before giving your legend a new name, make sure to adjust its other settings. To do this, locate the ‘Customize’ box. Let me show you how:

1. Click or tap on your chart. If you’re on a smartphone, simply tap it.
   
2. Choose the ‘More’ options on the top-right corner of the chart (three vertical dots).
3. Select ‘Edit chart.’ A new dialog box will appear. If you’re using a computer, just double-click on the chart to open the box.
   
4. Click on the ‘Customize’ tab.
5. Go to the ‘Legend’ section. There, you’ll find various adjustable options.
   

The position section lets you relocate the legend within the chart. By default, it sits at the top, but you can place it at the bottom, inside the chart, or on either side.

You also have the ability to modify the legend’s font style from a selection of over ten different styles, as well as adjust the font size. And if needed, you can make the font bold or add italics using the ‘Legend format’ option.

Lastly, the text color section allows you to change the font color. This way, you can tweak the color of the chart’s border and the colors of the axis with the inner text.

Step 3: Changing the Legend Name

Alright, now it’s time to give our chart a new name. Unfortunately, you can’t do this directly in the ‘Customize’ box. Instead, you’ll have to make some changes to your spreadsheet. Basically, if you want the values in your chart to change, you’ll need to edit the columns.

The legend name is the header of the chart. By default, the first line in each column becomes the legend name.

To change this, all you have to do is rename the first row of the column.

1. Double-click the cell in the column (or double-tap it) to start editing.
   
2. Type in any name you want for the legend.
   
3. Press ‘Enter’ (or tap anywhere else on the screen). The legend name will now change as well.
   

Switching Legend Headers

If you want to mix things up and use the values in the rows as legend headers instead of the column headers, just follow these steps:

1. Double-click your chart (or double-tap it) to bring up the editing options.
   
2. Select the ‘Setup’ tab in the menu.
   
3. In the menu, check the box that says ‘Switch rows/columns’.
   

Now, the first rows will become the new headers and your whole chart will look different.

Since we had a lot of rows in our document, we now have more headers. You can see that the previous ‘Legend 1’ and ‘Legend 2’ headers are now under the two groups of charts.

Hey there! I wanted to talk about some changes you might encounter with headers in the new version. It’s possible that the customization you used before won’t work as smoothly. For example, if you made the text size larger, the chart window might not be able to fit all the headers.

That’s why it’s important to follow the instructions from the previous two sections to customize the font, size, and color of the legend. You can also change the names of the headers if needed. The only thing you need to do differently is to change the first cell in each row to adjust the name of each legend label.

A Legend Deserving of a Cool Name

It’s actually quite easy to name your legends. Even if you still can’t change it in the chart setup window, you can easily customize it straight from your Google Sheet.

However, things can get a bit tricky if you’re working on big documents with a lot of labels. In that case, you need to pay attention to the position and font type and size of the legend. It’s all about finding a balance.

How do you handle legends in large documents? What font size and position do you usually go for? I’m curious to hear about your methods, so feel free to share in the comments section below!