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Easily Make an Org Chart in Google Sheets in Under 5 Minutes

A Google Sheets org chart is quite commonly used in presentations and reports. It’s a simple chart that shows the hierarchy of who reports to whom in an organization.

Below is an example of a simple org chart.

Org Chart Example

If you’re thinking that it’s going to take a lot of time to build these text boxes and the flow chart diagram, here is the good news – it would only take a few clicks.

Google Sheets charts has an inbuilt chart type called the organizational chart. All you need to do is have the data in a table and Google Sheets will do all the org chart building.

In this tutorial, I will show you how to create an org chart in Google Sheets.

So let’s get started!

Up Your Skills First

The G Suite is Google’s powerful collection of apps and programs that can exponentially increase your productivity. But only if you know how to use them efficiently. Browsing our site will help with this, but for those that like a little more structure to their learning, check out the excellent G Suite guides on Udemy.

How to Make an Org Chart in Google Sheets With the Right Data

The first step in creating the org chart is to make sure that you have the data in the correct format in Google Sheets.

To begin with, all you need are two columns – one that shows the designation and the other column that shows who this person (holding the designation) reports to.

Below I have the table for a small organization where column A has the designation and column B has the designation to whom the person in Column A reports to.

Data for Org Chart

For example, the CEO reports to no one, but VP Marketing reports to the CEO and so on.

Now. we will create the  Google Sheet organization chart using this data.

Free Organizational Chart Template for Google Sheets

Here is a Google Sheets Organizational Chart Template for you to download to follow along with the steps below. We also offer other free OKR templates you can use in Google Sheets

How to Create an Organizational Chart in Google Sheets

Here’s how to make an organizational chart in Google Sheets using the table we created:

  1. Select the entire dataset
  2. Click the ‘Insert’ option in the menu
    Click the Insert option
  3. Click on ‘Chart’. This will insert a blank chart and also open the chart editor sidebar on the right.
    Click the Chart option
  4. In the Chart editor sidebar, within the ‘Setup’ tab, click on the ‘Chart type’ dropdown
    Click on Chart Type drop down
  5. Scroll down and select the ‘Organizational chart’ option
    Click the Org Chart chart type
  6. Check the ‘Use row 1 as headers’ option
    Check the Use row 1 as header option

The above steps would insert an organizational chart of Google Sheets using the selected data (as shown below).

Org Chart Example

Since this chart is linked with the table, in case you make any changes in the table it would be reflected in the organizational chart in real-time.

Adding Names to the Google Hierarchy Chart

In case you also want to have the name of the person who holds a designation after creating an org chart in Google Sheets, there are two ways to do this in Google Sheets.

  • Have the employee names show up whenever you hover the cursor over the box that contains the designation
  • Have the names as a part of the designation in the box itself

Let’s see how to do each of these.

Include Job Titles for Each Employee by Using Tooltips

For this method, you can have an additional column where you add the names of the people who hold the specific designation (as shown below).

Org data with names

Note that I have added the names column at the right of the two existing columns. This makes it slightly easier to build the organizational chart.

If you want, you can have the names column in the beginning (as the left-most column), and then adjust the organizational chart to pick up the right data from the right column.

Below are the steps to create an org chart with names in Google Sheets:

  1. Select the entire data set
  2. Click the Insert menu
  3. Click on Charts
  4. In the ‘Chart editor’, within the Setup tab, click on the chart type dropdown menu
  5. Select Organizational chart
  6. Check the ‘Use row 1 as headers’ option

The above steps would insert at the same organizational chart like the one we inserted above without the names.

But when you select the chart and hover the cursor over any of the boxes, it will display the name of the person holding that designation.

Org data that shows names on hover

The benefit of using this technique is that it doesn’t take up a lot of space while still gives us additional information about the name of the person.

On the other hand, the drawback is that in case you decide to export this chart as a PNG file or a PDF file, you will lose the functionality to get the name as the tooltip when you click the box.

Adding Name as the part of the Dataset

This method is exactly the same that we covered in the beginning.

The only difference is that here along with the designation, we also have the name of the person who owns that position.

Below is the data set that I’m going to use to create this organizational chart.

Designation and name in the same cel

For cosmetic reasons, I have added the name of the person in the next line within the same cell. Doing this makes sure that our organizational chart is not too wide.

Below are the steps to create the Google Sheets org chart vertical display using this data:

  1. Select the entire data set
  2. Click the Insert menu
  3. Click on Charts
  4. In the ‘Chart editor’, within the Setup tab, click on the chart type dropdown
  5. Select Organizational chart
  6. Check the ‘Use row 1 as headers’ option

This will give you an org chart as shown below:

Org Chart with names and designation

Since there are names in each box, this type of Org chart may be slightly wider than the one with just the designations.

Related Reading: How to Make a Gantt Chart in Google Sheets

How to Make a Hierarchy Chart in Google Docs

When you finish building the org chart in Sheets you can simply copy paste it into a Google Doc with the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V.

Google Sheet Org Chart Examples – Customizing the Org Chart

While there is not much that you can customize in an organizational chart in Google Sheets, there are two things you can change:

  • The size of the organizational chart (small, medium, and large)
  • The color of the node (which is the box that holds the designation and the names)
  • The color of any selected box/node
Customize tab for org chart

How to Change the Node Color

The customize options for the org chart aren’t as diverse as other charts. However, you can change the color of the nodes. To change the node color:

  1. Double click the chart or click the three dots and choose Edit chart.
Double click the chart or click the three dots and choose Edit chart.
  1. In the chart editor, go to Customize.
In the chart editor, go to Customize.
  1. Click on the dropdown for Org.
Click on the dropdown for Org.
  1. Click the dropdown for Node color and choose a different color.
Click the dropdown for Node color and choose a different color.
  1. You can also create your own custom color.
You can also create your own custom color.

You can also change the color that the node turns to when selected by choosing a different Selected node color.

The font color is white by default, and there’s currently no way to change this in Google Sheets.

Downloading the Org Chart from Google Sheets (as Image or PDF)

While it’s great to be able to quickly create org chart in Google Sheets, in most likelihood you are going to use this chart in a PowerPoint presentation or as part of a report in Google Docs or Microsoft Word.

And thanks to the awesome Google Sheet, you can easily export the chart as a PNG file or as a PDF with a single click

Below are the steps to download the organizational chart as a PNG file (or is a PDF file)

  1. Select the organization chart that you’ve already created
  2. Click on the three vertical dots that appear on the top right part of the chart
    Click on the three vertical dots
  3. Go to the download option and then click on PNG or PDF
    Select the file format to download the org chart

The above steps would instantly download the chart in the selected file format.

Publish an Org Chart

When you click on the three vertical dots that appear on the top right part of the chart, there’s another option that says Publish chart.

When you click on the three vertical dots that appear on the top right part of the chart, there’s another option that says Publish chart.

This option lets you share your chart on a website either as a link or by embedding it into the website. You can also use it to create a link that contains the chart as an image. You can share this link with other people.

Screenshot for Publish to Web window. You can link the chart or embed it into a website

If you choose Link and click Publish, you will get a link that you can post on your website. It will appear either as a link or an image, depending on whether you chose interactive or image.

You can share the link directly to people, and they will be able to view the chart as a website.

If you want to embed the chart into your website, click Publish, an HTML will be generated.

You can copy this HTML and paste it in your website editor to embed it. It will appear either as a link or an image, depending on whether you chose interactive or image.

One thing to note is that the chart on the website will automatically update if changes are made in Google Sheets.

What to Do if the Org Chart is Too Wide to Display

Sometimes, especially with large companies, the data might be quite large, making the org chart too wide to display. Here are some tips to remedy that:

  • You can write the data in the table in blocks so that the nodes are thinner.
  • Set the organizational chart to small in the customize menu.
  • Resize the chart using the small squares at the corners and edges when you select it.

If your org chart is still too wide even after these steps, then the best thing to do would be to split it into more than one org chart. You can have the main org chart and departmental org charts.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Create an Organizational Chart in Google Sheets?

  1. Enter the data for each step of the chart into a left column
  2. In the column next to it, place the over-heading for each input on the left. For example, put Fruit next to Apples and Oranges and Vegetables next to Carrots. You could also have Food next to Vegetables and Fruit to be the main box of the org chart
  3. Highlight the cells and click the Chart tool in the toolbox menu
  4. Find and click the Org chart in the options

Does Google Have an Org Chart Template?

Not by default, but you can download the template from this article and change the data around to suit you if you’d like.

So, this is how you can easily create and customize a Google Sheets organizational chart. Once created you can then export it as a PNG, PDF, or SVG vector file for further use.

Can you Make a Horizontal Org Chart in Google Sheets?

Unfortunately, there is no way to make a horizontal org chart in Google Sheets. If you really must make one, you can use Google slides instead, but you have to do the entire process manually, unlike in Google Sheets.

What Is the Easiest Way to Create an Org Chart?

You can simply download Google Sheets org chart templates and change over the details for your business. Or, there are plenty of apps on the internet that a specifically built for making org charts.

I hope you found this tutorial on how to make an org chart in Google Sheets useful.

Now that you know how to make a Google Sheets Org Chart, here are some other tutorials you may also like:

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