# Build a word cloud

> See which words come up most in a text field, with bigger words for more frequent ones.

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

A word cloud answers which words come up most. It splits a text field into words, counts them and draws the common ones larger. It works well on comments, product names or survey answers. Pick Word Cloud from the chart type selector.

## Fill the shelves

| Shelf | What it holds |
| --- | --- |
| Words | Required. The text field to split into words. It takes a dimension, date or location, not a measure. |
| Size | Optional. A measure that weights each word, such as Sales, instead of a plain count. |
| Color | Optional. A dimension gives each value its own color; a measure shades words on a gradient. |

1. Pick Word Cloud from the chart type selector.
2. Drag a text field to Words.
3. Optionally drag a measure to Size to weight words by it.
4. Click a word to select it and filter by it.

Common English words like the and and are left out, as are single letters, so the cloud shows the words that carry meaning.

## Format options

Open the format pane and find Word cloud settings.

- Max words - from 10 to 300.
- Min font size and Max font size - the range word sizes scale between.
- Layout - Spiral or Rectangular.
- Exclude words (comma-separated) - drop words you don't want, like your own company name.

## Build it from the chat

Ask the chat for "a word cloud of product names" or "word cloud of categories sized by sales".

### Related

- [Chart types](https://goldenanalytics.com/docs/chart-types)
- [Format a chart](https://goldenanalytics.com/docs/format-a-chart)
- [Use the chart builder](https://goldenanalytics.com/docs/chart-builder)

Source: https://goldenanalytics.com/docs/word-clouds