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Google Sheetsspreadsheet~10 mins

Line charts in Google Sheets - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

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LearnWhyDeepSheetTryChallengeScenarioRecallDash
Sample Data

Monthly sales data for five months, with months in column A and sales numbers in column B.

CellValue
A1Month
B1Sales
A2Jan
B2100
A3Feb
B3150
A4Mar
B4130
A5Apr
B5170
A6May
B6160
Formula Trace
LINEST(B2:B6, A2:A6, TRUE, TRUE)
Step 1: LINEST(B2:B6, A2:A6, TRUE, TRUE)
Cell Reference Map
    A      B
1 |Month |Sales
2 | Jan  | 100 
3 | Feb  | 150 
4 | Mar  | 130 
5 | Apr  | 170 
6 | May  | 160
The formula tries to use months (text) as x-values and sales (numbers) as y-values for regression.
Result
    A      B      C
1 |Month |Sales |Result
2 | Jan  | 100  |#ERROR!
3 | Feb  | 150  |       
4 | Mar  | 130  |       
5 | Apr  | 170  |       
6 | May  | 160  |
The formula returns an error because the x-values are text, not numbers.
Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions
Test your understanding
Why does the formula LINEST(B2:B6, A2:A6, TRUE, TRUE) return an error?
ABecause the y-values are missing
BBecause the x-values are text, not numbers
CBecause the formula syntax is wrong
DBecause the range B2:B6 is empty
Key Result
LINEST requires numeric x-values and y-values ranges to calculate linear regression.