# Build a waterfall chart

> Show how a starting value builds up and down through a series of changes to an ending total.

Analyze · 3 min read · Updated 2026-10-28

A waterfall chart shows how a starting value gets to an ending one. Each step is a floating bar that rises for an increase and drops for a decrease, so you can see which steps moved the total most - revenue to profit, say, or one month's balance to the next. Pick Waterfall from the chart type selector.

## Fill the shelves

| Shelf | What it holds |
| --- | --- |
| Category | The steps, one bar each. |
| Value | The measure for each step, positive or negative. |

1. Pick Waterfall from the chart type selector.
2. Drag the dimension that names your steps to Category.
3. Drag the measure to Value.
4. Open the format pane to set the value mode, totals and colors.

> **Note:** A waterfall has no Color shelf. Bars are colored for you: one color for increases, one for decreases and one for the total.

## Format a waterfall chart

Open the format pane and find Waterfall options.

- Value mode picks Delta (values are changes) or Absolute (values are totals). Use Absolute when each row is a running balance rather than a change.
- Show connectors draws the lines linking each bar to the next.
- Show baseline bar adds a starting bar. Set its Baseline label and Baseline value.
- Bar order lists your steps so you can move each one up or down.
- Show total bar adds a final bar with the ending total. Total label renames it.
- Bar colors sets the Increase, Decrease and Total colors.

## Build one from the chat

Ask the Analyst pane, or a dashboard's Storyteller pane, for a waterfall, for example "waterfall of profit by category", and it builds the chart. It works the same way in Analyze and on dashboards.

### Related

- [Chart types](https://goldenanalytics.com/docs/chart-types)
- [Chart builder](https://goldenanalytics.com/docs/chart-builder)
- [Format a chart](https://goldenanalytics.com/docs/format-a-chart)
- [Build a Pareto chart](https://goldenanalytics.com/docs/pareto-charts)

Source: https://goldenanalytics.com/docs/waterfall-charts