---
title: "Column chart"
description: "Vertical categorical bars. What the column chart is for, the data it needs and every option it has."
section: "Widgets"
canonical: "https://banksync.io/docs/widgets/chart-column"
specs: ["dashboards"]
operationBindings: [{"capability":"dashboards","operation":"dashboards.author"}]
---

Vertical categorical bars. It sits in the **Comparison** group of the widget library.

![Example column chart on a BankSync dashboard](https://cdn.banksync.io/screenshots/docs/charts/column.4d06212ed8be7595.png)

## When to use it

Use a column chart to compare amounts across periods or a handful of categories: spending per month, income per quarter, or net cash flow per week.

## When to pick something else

- Many categories with long names, like merchants? Use a **Bar chart**; horizontal labels fit better.
- Watching a trend over many dates? Use a **Line chart**.
- Splitting each period into parts? Use a **Stacked bar**.
- Comparing two measures side by side, like income and spending? Use a **Grouped bar**.

## The data it needs

Pick these in the **Data** tab of the inspector. BankSync suggests a column for each when your source has an obvious match.

| Field      | Needed   | Pick                 | Notes |
| ---------- | -------- | -------------------- | ----- |
| **X axis** | Yes      | a category or a date |       |
| **Y axis** | Yes      | a number             |       |
| **Series** | Optional | a category           |       |
| **Color**  | Optional | a category           |       |

Rows that share a category are combined before drawing: choose **Sum**, **Average**, **Count**, **Min** or **Max** on the value field. See [Binding data](/docs/widgets/binding-data).

## Column chart options

This chart has no options of its own; everything on its **Style** tab is the shared chart styling below.

## Shared chart styling

Every chart also has the shared styling options. These apply to this one:

- [Legend](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#legend): position, layout and which series show.
- [Axes](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#axes): titles, tick labels and number format.
- [Grid](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#grid), [title](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#title), [padding](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#padding) and [background](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#background).
- [Value labels](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#value-labels) on the marks.
- [Categories and labels](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#categories-and-labels): top N with "Other", sort order, readable labels, the handwritten callout.
- [Style](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#style): corner radius, line width, opacity and animation.
- [Tooltip](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#tooltip) on hover.
- Click to filter: clicking a mark can filter the rest of the dashboard. See [Filters and cross-filtering](/docs/dashboards/filters-and-cross-filtering).
- [Colours](/docs/widgets/chart-styling#palette): follow the dashboard palette or pick one for this chart.

## Messy data

- Rows with the same period or category are summed by default; choose another aggregate (average, last) for balances.
- Dates are sorted in order and never folded. Plain categories that don't fit the width fold into one **Other (N)** column.
- Negative values drop below zero, which makes net cash flow easy to read.
- A missing value leaves an empty slot rather than a zero column.
- A standout high value may get a short callout when it clearly beats the rest.

## On a phone

At full phone width, a year of monthly columns still fits, but axis labels thin out to every second or third period. Long category names are shortened; if they matter, switch to a **Bar chart** for phones.

## Related charts

- [Bar chart](/docs/widgets/chart-bar): Horizontal categorical bars
- [Grouped bar](/docs/widgets/chart-grouped-bar): Side-by-side bars per series
- [Stacked bar](/docs/widgets/chart-stacked-bar): Composition per category
- [100% stacked bar](/docs/widgets/chart-normalized-stacked-bar): Composition as percentage
- [Lollipop](/docs/widgets/chart-lollipop): Bars with circle endpoints
- [Dot plot](/docs/widgets/chart-dot): Discrete category dots
- [Bullet chart](/docs/widgets/chart-bullet): Single value with target bands