---
source: https://qlik.dev/embed/foundational-knowledge/visualizations/barchart/
last_updated: 2026-03-18T16:49:43Z
---

# Bar chart

The bar chart is suitable for comparing multiple values. The dimension axis
shows the category items that are compared, and the measure axis shows the value
for each category item.

[image: Bar chart example]

You can make more complex comparisons of data by using grouped or stacked bars.
With grouped bars, you can compare two or more items in the same
categorical group. Stacked bars combine bars of different groups on top of
each other and the total height of the resulting bar represents the combined result.

The bar chart can be displayed horizontally or vertically.

## Number of columns (dimensions and measures)

In a bar chart you need at least one dimension and one measure. The following
maximum limits apply:

- 1 dimension, 15 measures
- 2 dimensions, 1 measure
- 1 measure, 2 dimensions
- 2-15 measures, 1 dimension

## Default settings for a bar chart

The following default behaviors apply for bar charts:

- The first dimension is by default alphabetically sorted if the dimension has
  exactly ten or less than ten values, and numerically sorted if the dimension has
  more than ten values.

- The second dimension is automatically sorted on the dimension content:
  - Numeric content is numerically sorted.
  - Categorical content is alphabetically sorted.

- If the bar chart contains more than one dimension, it is auto-colored by the
  second dimension.

- Measures are by default numerically sorted, in ascending order.

## Scrolling and mini chart

When the number of dimension values exceeds the width of the visualization, a
mini chart with a scroll bar is displayed. You can scroll by using the scroll
bar in the mini chart, or, depending on your device, by using the scroll wheel
or by swiping with two fingers. When a large number of values are used, the
mini chart no longer displays all the values. Instead, a condensed version of
the mini chart (with the items in gray) displays an overview of the values, but
the lowest and the highest values are still visible.

## Out of range

You can set a limit for the measure axis range. Without a limit, the range is
automatically set to include the highest positive and lowest negative value,
but if you set a limit you may have values that exceed that limit. A bar that
exceeds the limit will be cut diagonally to show that it is out of range.

When a reference line is out of range, an arrow is displayed together with the
number of reference lines that are out of range.

```json
"measureAxis": {
  "show": "labels",
  "dock": "near",
  "spacing": 1,
  "autoMinMax": false,
  "minMax": "minMax",
  "min": 40,
  "max": 75
}
```

[image: Bar chart example with display
for limit exceeded]

## Display limitations

When displaying large amounts of data in a stacked bar chart, there may be cases
when not each dimension value within a bar is displayed with correct color and
size. These remaining values will instead be displayed as a gray, striped area.
The size and total value of the bar will still be correct, but not all dimension
values in the bar will be explicit.

To remove the gray areas, you can either make a selection or use dimension limits.

The approximate limit for how many stacked bars that can be displayed without
gray areas is 5000 bars, assuming that each bar consists of 10 inner dimension
values and one dimension value and one measure value for the whole bar.

The initial data load is 500 dimension values or dimension stacks.
(The value 500 refers to the outer dimension values, not each dimension value in
a stack.) When you have scrolled past those 500 values, an incremental load is
performed, where values are instead loaded based on the current view or scroll position.

## Time-aware charts

Time-aware charts are visualizations that use a continuous scale to provide a
complete and accurate view of time-based data. That is, when you enable
continuous scaling on the x-axis in a chart with date fields, data points are
separated from each other by a distance relative to their associated time.
As well, the axis labels are evenly separated whether or not there is data for
that point and the chart view is compressed to avoid scrolling.

A continuous scale is most commonly used with date fields such as:

- Second
- Minute
- Hour
- Week
- Month
- YearMonth
- Quarter
- YearQuarter
- Year
- Date
- Timestamp

[image: Bar chart example with display
for limit exceeded]