diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/components/field_manager/field_manager.test.tsx b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/components/field_manager/field_manager.test.tsx
index 2f38f68b01f16d..d7cbcf59213be8 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/components/field_manager/field_manager.test.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/components/field_manager/field_manager.test.tsx
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ describe('field_manager', () => {
           selected: true,
           type: 'string',
           hopSize: 5,
+          aggregatable: true,
         },
         {
           name: 'field2',
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ describe('field_manager', () => {
           type: 'string',
           hopSize: 0,
           lastValidHopSize: 5,
+          aggregatable: false,
         },
         {
           name: 'field3',
@@ -50,6 +52,16 @@ describe('field_manager', () => {
           selected: false,
           type: 'string',
           hopSize: 5,
+          aggregatable: true,
+        },
+        {
+          name: 'field4',
+          color: 'orange',
+          icon: getSuitableIcon('field4'),
+          selected: false,
+          type: 'string',
+          hopSize: 5,
+          aggregatable: false,
         },
       ])
     );
@@ -86,6 +98,17 @@ describe('field_manager', () => {
     ).toEqual('field2');
   });
 
+  it('should show selected non-aggregatable fields in picker, but hide unselected ones', () => {
+    expect(
+      getInstance()
+        .find(FieldPicker)
+        .dive()
+        .find(EuiSelectable)
+        .prop('options')
+        .map((option: { label: string }) => option.label)
+    ).toEqual(['field1', 'field2', 'field3']);
+  });
+
   it('should select fields from picker', () => {
     expect(
       getInstance()
@@ -130,6 +153,25 @@ describe('field_manager', () => {
     expect(getInstance().find(FieldEditor).length).toEqual(1);
   });
 
+  it('should show remove non-aggregatable fields from picker after deselection', () => {
+    act(() => {
+      getInstance()
+        .find(FieldEditor)
+        .at(1)
+        .dive()
+        .find(EuiContextMenu)
+        .prop('panels')![0].items![2].onClick!({} as any);
+    });
+    expect(
+      getInstance()
+        .find(FieldPicker)
+        .dive()
+        .find(EuiSelectable)
+        .prop('options')
+        .map((option: { label: string }) => option.label)
+    ).toEqual(['field1', 'field3']);
+  });
+
   it('should disable field', () => {
     const toggleItem = getInstance()
       .find(FieldEditor)
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/components/field_manager/field_picker.tsx b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/components/field_manager/field_picker.tsx
index 6ad792defb6697..b38e3f8430980e 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/components/field_manager/field_picker.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/components/field_manager/field_picker.tsx
@@ -114,9 +114,26 @@ export function FieldPicker({
 function toOptions(
   fields: WorkspaceField[]
 ): Array<{ label: string; checked?: 'on' | 'off'; prepend?: ReactNode }> {
-  return fields.map(field => ({
-    label: field.name,
-    prepend: <FieldIcon type={field.type} size="m" useColor />,
-    checked: field.selected ? 'on' : undefined,
-  }));
+  return (
+    fields
+      // don't show non-aggregatable fields, except for the case when they are already selected.
+      // this is necessary to ensure backwards compatibility with existing workspaces that might
+      // contain non-aggregatable fields.
+      .filter(field => isExplorable(field) || field.selected)
+      .map(field => ({
+        label: field.name,
+        prepend: <FieldIcon type={field.type} size="m" useColor />,
+        checked: field.selected ? 'on' : undefined,
+      }))
+  );
+}
+
+const explorableTypes = ['string', 'number', 'date', 'ip', 'boolean'];
+
+function isExplorable(field: WorkspaceField) {
+  if (!field.aggregatable) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  return explorableTypes.includes(field.type);
 }
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/components/settings/settings.test.tsx b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/components/settings/settings.test.tsx
index a615901f40e253..0109e1f5a5ac7b 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/components/settings/settings.test.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/components/settings/settings.test.tsx
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ describe('settings', () => {
             code: '1',
             label: 'test',
           },
+          aggregatable: true,
         },
         {
           selected: false,
@@ -123,6 +124,7 @@ describe('settings', () => {
             code: '1',
             label: 'test',
           },
+          aggregatable: true,
         },
       ])
     );
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/services/fetch_top_nodes.test.ts b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/services/fetch_top_nodes.test.ts
index 3bfc868fcb06e9..79ff4debc7e825 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/services/fetch_top_nodes.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/services/fetch_top_nodes.test.ts
@@ -13,8 +13,24 @@ describe('fetch_top_nodes', () => {
   it('should build terms agg', async () => {
     const postMock = jest.fn(() => Promise.resolve({ resp: {} }));
     await fetchTopNodes(postMock as any, 'test', [
-      { color: '', hopSize: 5, icon, name: 'field1', selected: false, type: 'string' },
-      { color: '', hopSize: 5, icon, name: 'field2', selected: false, type: 'string' },
+      {
+        color: '',
+        hopSize: 5,
+        icon,
+        name: 'field1',
+        selected: false,
+        type: 'string',
+        aggregatable: true,
+      },
+      {
+        color: '',
+        hopSize: 5,
+        icon,
+        name: 'field2',
+        selected: false,
+        type: 'string',
+        aggregatable: true,
+      },
     ]);
     expect(postMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith('../api/graph/searchProxy', {
       body: JSON.stringify({
@@ -65,8 +81,24 @@ describe('fetch_top_nodes', () => {
       })
     );
     const result = await fetchTopNodes(postMock as any, 'test', [
-      { color: 'red', hopSize: 5, icon, name: 'field1', selected: false, type: 'string' },
-      { color: 'blue', hopSize: 5, icon, name: 'field2', selected: false, type: 'string' },
+      {
+        color: 'red',
+        hopSize: 5,
+        icon,
+        name: 'field1',
+        selected: false,
+        type: 'string',
+        aggregatable: true,
+      },
+      {
+        color: 'blue',
+        hopSize: 5,
+        icon,
+        name: 'field2',
+        selected: false,
+        type: 'string',
+        aggregatable: true,
+      },
     ]);
     expect(result.length).toEqual(4);
     expect(result[0]).toEqual({
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/services/persistence/deserialize.test.ts b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/services/persistence/deserialize.test.ts
index d38c950a5986f2..1861479f85f189 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/services/persistence/deserialize.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/services/persistence/deserialize.test.ts
@@ -119,9 +119,9 @@ describe('deserialize', () => {
       savedWorkspace,
       {
         getNonScriptedFields: () => [
-          { name: 'field1', type: 'string' },
-          { name: 'field2', type: 'string' },
-          { name: 'field3', type: 'string' },
+          { name: 'field1', type: 'string', aggregatable: true },
+          { name: 'field2', type: 'string', aggregatable: true },
+          { name: 'field3', type: 'string', aggregatable: true },
         ],
       } as IndexPattern,
       workspace
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@ describe('deserialize', () => {
     expect(allFields).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
       Array [
         Object {
+          "aggregatable": true,
           "color": "black",
           "hopSize": undefined,
           "icon": undefined,
@@ -149,6 +150,7 @@ describe('deserialize', () => {
           "type": "string",
         },
         Object {
+          "aggregatable": true,
           "color": "black",
           "hopSize": undefined,
           "icon": undefined,
@@ -158,6 +160,7 @@ describe('deserialize', () => {
           "type": "string",
         },
         Object {
+          "aggregatable": true,
           "color": "#CE0060",
           "hopSize": 5,
           "icon": Object {
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/services/persistence/deserialize.ts b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/services/persistence/deserialize.ts
index af34b4f1a725b4..43425077cc174d 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/services/persistence/deserialize.ts
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/services/persistence/deserialize.ts
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ export function mapFields(indexPattern: IndexPattern): WorkspaceField[] {
       color: colorChoices[index % colorChoices.length],
       selected: false,
       type: field.type,
+      aggregatable: Boolean(field.aggregatable),
     }))
     .sort((a, b) => {
       if (a.name < b.name) {
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/services/persistence/serialize.test.ts b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/services/persistence/serialize.test.ts
index 0e0c750383a71e..a3942eccfdac36 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/services/persistence/serialize.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/services/persistence/serialize.test.ts
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ describe('serialize', () => {
           name: 'field1',
           selected: true,
           type: 'string',
+          aggregatable: true,
         },
         {
           color: 'black',
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ describe('serialize', () => {
           name: 'field2',
           selected: true,
           type: 'string',
+          aggregatable: true,
         },
       ],
       selectedIndex: {
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/types/app_state.ts b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/types/app_state.ts
index eef8060f07f5cd..876f2cf23b53a9 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/types/app_state.ts
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/types/app_state.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ export interface WorkspaceField {
   icon: FontawesomeIcon;
   selected: boolean;
   type: string;
+  aggregatable: boolean;
 }
 
 export interface AdvancedSettings {
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/types/persistence.ts b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/types/persistence.ts
index 7fc5e15d9ea72b..adb07605b61c46 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/types/persistence.ts
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/graph/public/types/persistence.ts
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ export interface SerializedUrlTemplate extends Omit<UrlTemplate, 'encoder' | 'ic
   encoderID: string;
   iconClass?: string;
 }
-export interface SerializedField extends Omit<WorkspaceField, 'icon' | 'type'> {
+export interface SerializedField extends Omit<WorkspaceField, 'icon' | 'type' | 'aggregatable'> {
   iconClass: string;
 }