When you are writing an annual financial report in Google Docs, you will likely need to include complex bar charts and line graphs generated in Google Sheets. If you take a screenshot of the chart and paste it into your document, that image becomes instantly obsolete the moment a single number changes in your spreadsheet. To guarantee your report is always perfectly accurate, you must link the two files so the chart automatically updates itself.
How to Link a Chart
Instead of copying a flat image, Google Docs allows you to embed a live, interactive portal directly to the original Google Sheets file.
- Open both your Google Docs report and your Google Sheets spreadsheet in two separate browser tabs.
- In the Google Sheets tab, click once on the actual chart to highlight it.
- Press Ctrl + C to copy the chart to your clipboard.
- Switch to your Google Docs tab.
- Click on the blank space where you want the chart to appear and press Ctrl + V to paste.
The Crucial Link Step
The exact moment you paste the chart, Google Docs will intercept the command and pop up a highly important dialogue box asking how you want to paste the data.
You will be presented with two choices:
- Link to spreadsheet: This creates a live, dynamic connection.
- Paste unlinked: This pastes a dead, static image.
Ensure the Link to spreadsheet radio button is selected, and click Paste.
How to Update the Chart Later
Your chart is now successfully embedded in the document. Fast forward three weeks: you update a massive column of revenue numbers in your Google Sheets file, drastically altering the shape of the bar chart.
When you open your Google Docs report, you will notice a brand new button hovering in the top-right corner of the embedded chart labeled UPDATE. Simply click that button. Google Docs will instantly reach across the server, read the new data from the spreadsheet, and smoothly animate the chart into its brand new configuration without you ever having to delete or replace the image.