In brief
- Availability is gradual, not simultaneous for every account.
- Use it to compare the distribution of values.
A different view of your spreadsheet
Google announced box and whisker charts in Sheets on October 22. Rollout starts with Rapid Release domains; Scheduled Release domains begin on November 6. Each rollout may take up to 15 days. Announced availability includes Workspace and personal accounts, with no specific exclusion for Mexico.
What you can use them for
This chart type displays the median, quartiles and outliers. Imagine two commuting routes with similar average travel times: one might be consistent, while the other mixes quick journeys with huge delays. Looking at the spread helps you ask that question before choosing.
Google’s help page places these charts in the Statistical category. On a computer, select your cells and choose Insert, Chart; you can then change the chart type under Setup.
Before sharing the chart
Check that every value uses the same units and that you are not comparing different time periods. A value far from the others is not automatically a mistake: investigate what happened rather than deleting it to make the chart look tidier.
Put what you measured and the time period in the title. If someone receives only a screenshot, that small clarification can be more useful than changing the colors.
Sources and context
Sources used for this article. Follow the links to read the original material.
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