# Group a histogram into bins

> Let Golden pick a histogram's bins, or take over: set the number of bars or the width each covers, pin an exact range, and choose whether to fold extreme values into the edge bars.

Analyze · 3 min read · Updated 2026-09-30

A histogram groups a single measure into bins and draws one bar per bin, its height the number of rows that fall inside. Golden picks the bins for you, but you can take over the grouping, pin an exact range, and decide whether to fold extreme values into the edge bars.

## Automatic or custom grouping

With a histogram on the canvas, open Chart Options in the Format pane and find the Grouping controls at the top. There are two modes: Automatic ("Best grouping for your data") lets Golden choose the bins, and Custom ("You decide how to group") hands the choice to you.

- Number of Bars - a slider from 2 to 100. Fewer bars give a broader view; more bars give finer detail.
- Each Bar Covers - instead of a bar count, set the width each bar represents. Type "1000" to group every 1,000 units. Clear it to go back to a bar count.

## Set a bin range

Bin Range sets the From and To ends of the bins. Leave a side on "auto" to take that end from the data. Values outside the range are grouped into the first and last bars, so nothing is dropped. Click Reset to clear both ends. Golden refuses a From above every value, or a To below every value - there would be nothing left to bin - and tells you why instead of ignoring it.

## Focus on typical values

A few very large or very small values can squeeze a histogram into one or two bars. Focus on typical values, on by default, folds those extremes into the edge bars so the bulk of the data spreads across the chart. Turn it off to give every value its own place on the axis. When you set both ends of the Bin Range, the range already decides both edges, so this toggle turns off.

## Count or percentage, and bar gaps

- Y-Axis Display - show each bar as a Count of rows or as a Percentage of the total.
- Show Gap Between Bars - add or remove the gap between adjacent bars.

> **Tip:** The AI analyst can set a histogram's range too. Ask it to limit the chart to a range - "show order values from 0 to 500" - and it fills in the same Bin Range.

### Related

- [Chart types in Golden](https://goldenanalytics.com/docs/chart-types)
- [Build a chart with shelves](https://goldenanalytics.com/docs/chart-builder)
- [Format a chart](https://goldenanalytics.com/docs/format-a-chart)

Source: https://goldenanalytics.com/docs/histogram-bins