Tip #18: 6 Trendlines and when to use them in your spreadsheet data?

Tip #18: 6 Trendlines and when to use them in your spreadsheet data?

Charts are a great tool for visualizing and interpreting large chunks of data in spreadsheets. Zoho Sheet offers you 35+ chart options, along with AI-powered chart recommendations based on the data set you select. There are various chart elements that can help you format and add additional details to your charts based on how you'd like to visualize the data.
 
A trendline is one of the chart elements that helps you visualize the general direction or trend of the data points plotted on the chart. It helps you observe the overall movement, pattern, or tendency of data over time to support analysis and forecasting. For example, let's take a chart indicating the sales of product X increasing over the given number of years. By adding trendlines to your chart, you can easily deduce the increasing sales.


What are the different types of trendlines and when should you use them? 

  • Linear
  • Power
  • Exponential
  • Logarithmic
  • Polynomial
  • Moving average

Linear


Linear trendlines are suitable for data sets that indicate a steady increase or decrease over a given period of time and are often straight lines.



In this example, an employee's annual salary has steadily increased in relation to their work experience, indicating a linear trendline.


Power


Power trendlines are helpful in predicting data sets that increase at a regular interval and result in a curved line.



In this example, the number of people following a Twitter account has increased rapidly over the course of a year.

Exponential


Exponential trendlines form a curved line representing values that increase or decrease at an accelerating rate. It's used for data with exponential growth or decay.



In this example, bicycle usage decreases rapidly over the given years.

Logarithmic


Logarithmic trendlines are suitable to represent data sets that show an increase or decrease and then gradually stabilize.



In this example, the person's height increases as he grows and then levels out as he reaches maturity.

Polynomial


Polynomial trendlines are appropriate capturing complex relationships between variables in data sets that keep oscillating or have intricate fluctuations.This type of trendline is classified into different types based on the degree or order. In Zoho Sheet, you can select the degree of the polynomial (2 to 10) based on how perfectly the trendline fits the given data set.



In this example, electricity consumption gradually increases and then decreases over the given months.

Moving average


The moving average trendline takes the fluctuations in the given values, averages them, and uses the average values to plot the trendline.
Moving average trendlines are useful for showing the overall trajectory of data sets with a lot of ups and downs. 

The stock market is a perfect match for the moving average trendline because stocks generally fluctuate on a regular basis.




Zoho Sheet offers multiple chart elements, like trendlines, data labels, legends, and gridlines, to help you customize the way your charts visualize information and ideas. You can also check out our post on the 3 important chart customizations.

 

Follow our Tips and Tricks forum to explore similar tips on using Zoho Sheet for your business. You can also join our community to stay informed on the latest updates and feature enhancements.




      • Sticky Posts

      • Tip #20 - Three things you probably didn't know you can do with picklists

        Hello Zoho Sheet users! We’re back with another quick tip to help you make your spreadsheets smarter. Picklists are a great tool to maintain consistency in your spreadsheet. Manually entering data is time-consuming and often leaves typos and irregular
      • Tip #18: 6 Trendlines and when to use them in your spreadsheet data?

        Charts are a great tool for visualizing and interpreting large chunks of data in spreadsheets. Zoho Sheet offers you 35+ chart options, along with AI-powered chart recommendations based on the data set you select. There are various chart elements that
      • Tip #16: Ask Zia your data-related questions and get powerful insights

        Zoho Sheet provides a variety of tools and functionalities to help you analyze your data from end to end. But what if you could analyze all your data sets with a single AI-powered tool? Meet Zia, our smart virtual assistant who will answer all your data-related
      • Tip #17: Easily share spreadsheets with non-Zoho account users

        With efficient, collaboration-friendly options, Zoho Sheet is a popular choice among users. Sheet's external share links help you collaborate more effectively by sharing your spreadsheets with anyone outside your organization, including users who do not
      • Tip #7: Four things you didn't know you can do with Conditional Formatting

        Conditional formatting helps you highlight and visualize data in your spreadsheet based on provided rules. Zoho Sheet offers three types of conditional formatting: Classic, Color Scales, and Icon Sets. If you're already familiar with how Conditional Formatting works, here are some bonus tips for Classic formats: Customize rules with formulas Zoho Sheet allows you to create personalized rules based on formulas. For example, in a task list you can use customized formulas to highlight tasks which are

        • Recent Topics

        • Manage Task on Mobile

          How do we manage our task on mobile devices? It seems that there should be a standalone mobile app to handle the new task features. The new features released in regards to Task management are great by the way! Now we need to bring that all together in
        • Set Default Payment Method & Default account

          Hi, I would like to know how to set the default payment method and default bank account when recording payments in zoho books. At present we have to change these fields everytime we record a payment, which leads to potential error and as we have a very
        • Customer Portal on Zoho Desk

          Hi, I'd like to know more about the items below I found when setting up the Customer Portal on Zoho Desk. Could someone help me explaining these in details? Especially the 2nd and 3rd point. Thanking you in advance! Permissions Customers can sign up for Customer Portal Customers can view tickets of their organization (contacts) Customers must register to access Customer Portal Display Community in Customer Self Service portal
        • Slow Performance on desk.zoho.com. 11/3/2025

          I’m not seeing any active service alerts for desk.zoho.com, but everyone on our account is currently experiencing very slow load times when opening or navigating tickets. We’ve already tried the standard troubleshooting steps — clearing cache and cookies,
        • Computer Showing Offline in Unattended Access

          I have a computer that was connected to the internet but showing offline in Assist. I tried uninstalling the program and deleting it from Zoho Assist the reinstalling and it still does not show up. I have been a user for several months and am not pleased with the lack of connectivity with Assist. If this continues I will have to find another product. The computer I reinstalled it on is not even showing up in Assist now. The name is NYRVLI-PC. Thanks
        • Closing Accounting Periods - Invoice/Posting dates

          Hi, I have seen in another thread but I'm unsure on how the 'transaction locking' works with regards to new and old transactions. When producing monthly accounts if I close December 24 accounts on 8th Jan 25 will transaction locking prevent me from posting
        • Zoho CRM Portal Error

          Hi, We’re experiencing an issue with the Zoho CRM Portal. When we try to access it, we receive an HTTPS connection error: net::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID. If we proceed past that, we then get a 400 Bad Request error. Could you please help us resolve
        • Can we do Image swatches for color variants?

          We want to do something like the attached screenshot on our new zoho store. We need image swatches instead of normal text selection. We want to user to select an image as color option. Is this doable? I don't see any option on zoho backend. Please h
        • Integrating Zoho CRM EmbeddedApp SDK with Next.js — Initialization and Data Fetching Issues

          You can get an idea from my code I have given in end: First, I worked on a React project and tried the same thing — it worked. My goal was to import the Zoho script and then load contacts using the Zoho Widget SDK, which was successful in React. Now,
        • Script Editor not an option

          I am trying to apply a script to a sheet and Script Editor is not an option. I don't want to go outside Sheets to do this (like Creator) if it can be done inside Sheets.
        • monetizing the courses

          Can I add a price for course enrollment ?
        • Can we add zoho books features like invoices estemates etc on our zohocommerce website. When our customer login with their account they can able to see all books features in one place on zohocommerce?

          Can we add zoho books features like invoices estemates etc on our zohocommerce website. When our customer login with their account they can able to see all books features in one place on zohocommerce?
        • Copy paste from word document deletes random spaces

          Hello Dear Zoho Team, When copying from a word document into Notebook, often I face a problem of the program deleting random spaces between words, the document become terribly faulty, eventhough it is perfect in its original source document (and without
        • Create custom rollup summary fields in Zoho CRM

          Hello everyone, In Zoho CRM, rollup summary fields have been essential tools for summarizing data across related records and enabling users to gain quick insights without having to jump across modules. Previously, only predefined summary functions were
        • Download a file from within a zoho creator widget

          I have a widget running in Zoho Creator , it displays uploaded documents in a table file, and I have added a download link in the view. ( The widget is created with html, css and javascript). I do not succeed in getting the download working. Do I have
        • Taxes for EU B2B Transactions

          Currently, ZC doesn't seem to have a procedure for validating VAT numbers of businesses purchasing in another EU state, and removing local VAT is valid. This is essential for all inter EU B2B trade.
        • Unable to Receive Emails on Zoho Mail After Office 365 Coexistence Setup – Error: 553 Relaying Disallowed

          Hello, My domain name is bigniter.com, and I’ve been using Zoho Mail as my email service provider without any issues. Recently, I followed the steps outlined in the Zoho documentation to enable Coexistence with Office 365: 🔗 https://www.zoho.com/mail/help/adminconsole/coexistence-with-office365.html#multi-server
        • Enhance Sign CRM integration

          Hello all, I'm working on a custom Deluge script to enhance the integration between Zoho CRM and Sign by using a writer merge template for additional flexibility. I want to replicate the post-sign document integration that exists between CRM and Sign
        • CRM Related list table in Zoho analytics

          In Zoho Analytics, where can I view the tables created from zoho crm related lists? For example, in my Zoho CRM setup, I have added the Product module as a related list in the Lead module, and also the Lead module as a related list in the Product module.
        • Candidate Registration/Invitation

          It would be great to include the 'invite' candidate functionality into some of the automation functions - ether through a custom function trigger or webhook or accessible through an email template.  Currently there is no way to add this functionality into any workflows or blueprint steps which, I find limits the ability to invite candidates to engage with us directly through our candidate portal. 
        • [Free Webinar] Learning Table Series - Creator for Infrastructure Management | A Partner-driven collaborative session

          Hello Everyone! We’re excited to invite you to another edition of Learning Table Series, where we showcase how Zoho Creator empowers industries with innovative and automated solutions. About the Learning Table Series The Learning Table Series is a free,
        • Where we can change the icon in social preview

          Hi, we changed our logo, and the image that appear in preview (ex : when we post a appointment link somewhere) is still our old logo. I did change our logo in the org setting. https://bookings.zoho.com/app/#/home/dashboard/settings/basic-info?clview=false
        • Cadences

          I have just started using Cadences for follow-up up email pipeline. Is it just me or do you find the functionality very basic? For example, it will tell me (if I go looking for it) if someone has replied to a follow-up and been unenrolled; but it won't
        • I have error AS101 when I try to add paypal@mydomain.com to Zoho

          Please help me with this. I tried to call the help line 4 times but don't get any response.
        • VAT on Multiple Expenses

          Firstly, might I say I am based in Ireland, and I'm not an accountant, and therefore my understanding of procedures could be somewhat limited. Scenario. An employee pays for items throughout a month, and therefore their claim for expenses includes multiple items - some of the items are VAT deductible (eg, an IT product) and some are not (eg, a client lunch). Discovery The odd thing in ZBooks, is that whilst it seems possible to add a VAT rate to a one-off item of expense, it is not possible to add
        • Detect and ignore bots in visitors

          The SalesIQ visitor numbers are basically useless to us because there is no bot detection. We get the same bots coming in from the same countries looking at the same pages every day. It can't be that difficult to tell the difference between an actual
        • Agent assignment filter?

          Godo day, We are starting to play with FSM to see if it's going to work for our needs. Now so far we have found that it's very restrcitve in the field department you you have layout rules or can't even hide fields depending on the users roles. We can't
        • DKIM Now Mandatory - Changes to Zoho Forms Email Policies

          Hello Zoho Forms Users, This post is to inform you about an important update regarding the authentication of all email domains in your Zoho Forms account. This year, we are doubling down on our commitment to deliver a secure, seamless, and empowering
        • In arattai received message can't be deleted

          The issue has been noticed in following: arattai app (Android) arattai app (Window) arattai web While the message posted by me may be deleted, the ones received from others can't be. The item <Delete> change to <Report> when the message is a received
        • is it possible to add more than one Whatsapp Phone Number to be integrated to Zoho CRM?

          so I have successfully added one Whatsapp number like this from this User Interface it seems I can't add a new Whatsapp Number. I need to add a new Whatsapp Number so I can control the lead assignment if a chat sent to Whatsapp Phone Number 1 then assign
        • Kiosk Page Refresh

          We have a Kiosk running from a button in contacts to update values and also add related lists, which works great, but when the kiosk is finished the page does not refresh to show the changes. Is there a way to force the contact to refresh/update when
        • Tips & tricks: Make SalesIQ automations work for you

          Every day, thousands of visitors land on your website. Some browse, some buy, and some leave without a word. But, wouldn’t it be great if you could automatically know who’s interested, engage them at the right moment, and never miss a lead, and all this
        • Add Custom Reports To Dashboard or Home Tab

          Hi there, I think it would be great to be able to add our custom reports to the Home Tab or Dashboards. Thanks! Chad
        • Digest Octobre - Un résumé de ce qui s'est passé le mois dernier sur Community

          Chers utilisateurs, Faisons le point sur les temps forts du mois d'octobre au sein de notre Community Zoho France. Partager des informations sensibles, comme des mots de passe, peut vite devenir compliqué et risqué. Les données circulent par email ou
        • How do I fully delete a user account

          Hi, I have two old accounts on my CRM which are inactive and show as 'Closed' in the list of users. BUT they are basically still there. How do I fully delete these accounts? They appear in some parts of CRM still such as the on the contact record emails
        • Automatically Add Recurring Zoho Meeting Events to Zoho Calendar / Zoho Meeting Calendar

          Hello Zoho Meeting Team, Hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement regarding recurring meetings created inside Zoho Meeting. At the moment, when we schedule a recurring meeting in Zoho Meeting, it does not appear in Zoho Calendar
        • Credit Management: #6 Tackling Common Mistakes in Credit Based Billing

          Businesses extend credit to build relationships, make buying easy, and drive more sales. But somewhere between extending and collecting, things begin to slip. A few late payments here and there, an overlooked invoice, and a backlog make cash flow feel
        • Tasks Statuses

          Hi, The task status "Completed" is a final status which closes the task. We need to have a status "Cancelled". However, when the status is set to "Cancelled", the task prompt still has a blue button to Close Task. When the customer clicks that and closes
        • Updating Blueprint stage from my Deluge function

          Hi all, I need to update the blueprint stage. Its almost working, but ONLY if the current Deal stage is 'Closed Lost'. On any of my custom stages that Ive specified in the pipeline it doesnt work! My code: dealmap = Map(); deal_stage = deal.get("Stage");
        • Canvas: is it possible to have a fixed header?

          Hello. Does Canvas provide the option to have a fixed header, similar to the standard view? It would also be interesting for other parts of the interface, like the header or sidebar of the tab section. Thanks!
        • Next Page