diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudmonitoring/cloudmonitoring.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudmonitoring/cloudmonitoring.go
index e319c035e2d..6f8fbb1cf92 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudmonitoring/cloudmonitoring.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudmonitoring/cloudmonitoring.go
@@ -338,6 +338,7 @@ func (s *Service) buildQueryExecutors(req *backend.QueryDataRequest) ([]cloudMon
 					IntervalMS:  query.Interval.Milliseconds(),
 					AliasBy:     q.MetricQuery.AliasBy,
 					timeRange:   req.Queries[0].TimeRange,
+					GraphPeriod: q.MetricQuery.GraphPeriod,
 				}
 			} else {
 				cmtsf.AliasBy = q.MetricQuery.AliasBy
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudmonitoring/time_series_query.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudmonitoring/time_series_query.go
index f885432e315..addd562ece3 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudmonitoring/time_series_query.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudmonitoring/time_series_query.go
@@ -20,6 +20,21 @@ import (
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/tsdb/intervalv2"
 )
 
+func (timeSeriesQuery cloudMonitoringTimeSeriesQuery) appendGraphPeriod(req *backend.QueryDataRequest) string {
+	// GraphPeriod needs to be explicitly disabled.
+	// If not set, the default behavior is to set an automatic value
+	if timeSeriesQuery.GraphPeriod != "disabled" {
+		graphPeriod := timeSeriesQuery.GraphPeriod
+		if graphPeriod == "auto" || graphPeriod == "" {
+			intervalCalculator := intervalv2.NewCalculator(intervalv2.CalculatorOptions{})
+			interval := intervalCalculator.Calculate(req.Queries[0].TimeRange, time.Duration(timeSeriesQuery.IntervalMS/1000)*time.Second, req.Queries[0].MaxDataPoints)
+			graphPeriod = interval.Text
+		}
+		return fmt.Sprintf(" | graph_period %s", graphPeriod)
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
 func (timeSeriesQuery cloudMonitoringTimeSeriesQuery) run(ctx context.Context, req *backend.QueryDataRequest,
 	s *Service, dsInfo datasourceInfo, tracer tracing.Tracer) (*backend.DataResponse, cloudMonitoringResponse, string, error) {
 	dr := &backend.DataResponse{}
@@ -35,13 +50,11 @@ func (timeSeriesQuery cloudMonitoringTimeSeriesQuery) run(ctx context.Context, r
 		slog.Info("No project name set on query, using project name from datasource", "projectName", projectName)
 	}
 
-	intervalCalculator := intervalv2.NewCalculator(intervalv2.CalculatorOptions{})
-	interval := intervalCalculator.Calculate(req.Queries[0].TimeRange, time.Duration(timeSeriesQuery.IntervalMS/1000)*time.Second, req.Queries[0].MaxDataPoints)
-
+	timeSeriesQuery.Query += timeSeriesQuery.appendGraphPeriod(req)
 	from := req.Queries[0].TimeRange.From
 	to := req.Queries[0].TimeRange.To
 	timeFormat := "2006/01/02-15:04:05"
-	timeSeriesQuery.Query += fmt.Sprintf(" | graph_period %s | within d'%s', d'%s'", interval.Text, from.UTC().Format(timeFormat), to.UTC().Format(timeFormat))
+	timeSeriesQuery.Query += fmt.Sprintf(" | within d'%s', d'%s'", from.UTC().Format(timeFormat), to.UTC().Format(timeFormat))
 
 	buf, err := json.Marshal(map[string]interface{}{
 		"query": timeSeriesQuery.Query,
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudmonitoring/time_series_query_test.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudmonitoring/time_series_query_test.go
index 5f1900f9e75..33912e9bf48 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudmonitoring/time_series_query_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudmonitoring/time_series_query_test.go
@@ -101,4 +101,14 @@ func TestTimeSeriesQuery(t *testing.T) {
 		require.True(t, ok)
 		assert.Equal(t, "6724404429462225363", labels["resource.label.instance_id"])
 	})
+
+	t.Run("appends graph_period to the query", func(t *testing.T) {
+		query := &cloudMonitoringTimeSeriesQuery{}
+		assert.Equal(t, query.appendGraphPeriod(&backend.QueryDataRequest{Queries: []backend.DataQuery{{}}}), " | graph_period 10ms")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("skips graph_period if disabled", func(t *testing.T) {
+		query := &cloudMonitoringTimeSeriesQuery{GraphPeriod: "disabled"}
+		assert.Equal(t, query.appendGraphPeriod(&backend.QueryDataRequest{Queries: []backend.DataQuery{{}}}), "")
+	})
 }
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudmonitoring/types.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudmonitoring/types.go
index a2cce2fb8b1..4d5d4fdbd65 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudmonitoring/types.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudmonitoring/types.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ type (
 		IntervalMS  int64
 		AliasBy     string
 		timeRange   backend.TimeRange
+		GraphPeriod string
 	}
 
 	metricQuery struct {
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ type (
 		Query              string
 		Preprocessor       string
 		PreprocessorType   preprocessorType
+		GraphPeriod        string
 	}
 
 	sloQuery struct {
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/Alignment.tsx b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/Alignment.tsx
index 7d4226183df..edb9e8163a1 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/Alignment.tsx
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/Alignment.tsx
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@ import React, { FC } from 'react';
 
 import { SelectableValue } from '@grafana/data';
 
-import { SELECT_WIDTH } from '../constants';
+import { ALIGNMENT_PERIODS, SELECT_WIDTH } from '../constants';
 import CloudMonitoringDatasource from '../datasource';
 import { CustomMetaData, MetricQuery, SLOQuery } from '../types';
 
-import { AlignmentFunction, AlignmentPeriod, AlignmentPeriodLabel, QueryEditorField, QueryEditorRow } from '.';
+import { AlignmentFunction, PeriodSelect, AlignmentPeriodLabel, QueryEditorField, QueryEditorRow } from '.';
 
 export interface Props {
   refId: string;
@@ -39,12 +39,13 @@ export const Alignment: FC<Props> = ({
         onChange={onChange}
       />
       <QueryEditorField label="Alignment period" htmlFor={`${refId}-alignment-period`}>
-        <AlignmentPeriod
+        <PeriodSelect
           inputId={`${refId}-alignment-period`}
           selectWidth={SELECT_WIDTH}
           templateVariableOptions={templateVariableOptions}
-          query={query}
-          onChange={onChange}
+          current={query.alignmentPeriod}
+          onChange={(period) => onChange({ ...query, alignmentPeriod: period })}
+          aligmentPeriods={ALIGNMENT_PERIODS}
         />
       </QueryEditorField>
     </QueryEditorRow>
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/GraphPeriod.test.tsx b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/GraphPeriod.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0c5307889cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/GraphPeriod.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
+import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event';
+import React from 'react';
+import { select } from 'react-select-event';
+
+import { GraphPeriod, Props } from './GraphPeriod';
+
+const props: Props = {
+  onChange: jest.fn(),
+  refId: 'A',
+  variableOptionGroup: { options: [] },
+};
+
+describe('Graph Period', () => {
+  it('should enable graph_period by default', () => {
+    render(<GraphPeriod {...props} />);
+    expect(screen.getByLabelText('Graph period')).not.toBeDisabled();
+  });
+
+  it('should disable graph_period when toggled', async () => {
+    const onChange = jest.fn();
+    render(<GraphPeriod {...props} onChange={onChange} />);
+    const s = screen.getByTestId('A-switch-graph-period');
+    await userEvent.click(s);
+    expect(onChange).toHaveBeenCalledWith('disabled');
+  });
+
+  it('should set a different value when selected', async () => {
+    const onChange = jest.fn();
+    render(<GraphPeriod {...props} onChange={onChange} />);
+    const selectEl = screen.getByLabelText('Graph period');
+    expect(selectEl).toBeInTheDocument();
+
+    await select(selectEl, '1m', {
+      container: document.body,
+    });
+    expect(onChange).toHaveBeenCalledWith('1m');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/GraphPeriod.tsx b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/GraphPeriod.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e6081a1b43f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/GraphPeriod.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+import React, { FunctionComponent } from 'react';
+
+import { SelectableValue } from '@grafana/data';
+import { Switch } from '@grafana/ui';
+
+import { GRAPH_PERIODS, SELECT_WIDTH } from '../constants';
+
+import { PeriodSelect, QueryEditorRow } from '.';
+
+export interface Props {
+  refId: string;
+  onChange: (period: string) => void;
+  variableOptionGroup: SelectableValue<string>;
+  graphPeriod?: string;
+}
+
+export const GraphPeriod: FunctionComponent<Props> = ({ refId, onChange, graphPeriod, variableOptionGroup }) => {
+  return (
+    <>
+      <QueryEditorRow
+        label="Graph period"
+        htmlFor={`${refId}-graph-period`}
+        tooltip={
+          <>
+            Set <code>graph_period</code> which forces a preferred period between points. Automatically set to the
+            current interval if left blank.
+          </>
+        }
+      >
+        <Switch
+          data-testid={`${refId}-switch-graph-period`}
+          value={graphPeriod !== 'disabled'}
+          onChange={(e) => onChange(e.currentTarget.checked ? '' : 'disabled')}
+        />
+        <PeriodSelect
+          inputId={`${refId}-graph-period`}
+          templateVariableOptions={variableOptionGroup.options}
+          current={graphPeriod}
+          onChange={onChange}
+          selectWidth={SELECT_WIDTH}
+          disabled={graphPeriod === 'disabled'}
+          aligmentPeriods={GRAPH_PERIODS}
+        />
+      </QueryEditorRow>
+    </>
+  );
+};
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/MetricQueryEditor.tsx b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/MetricQueryEditor.tsx
index d6ec09e9941..89d78b7111a 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/MetricQueryEditor.tsx
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/MetricQueryEditor.tsx
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import {
   ValueTypes,
 } from '../types';
 
+import { GraphPeriod } from './GraphPeriod';
 import { MQLQueryEditor } from './MQLQueryEditor';
 
 import { AliasBy, Project, VisualMetricQueryEditor } from '.';
@@ -128,11 +129,19 @@ function Editor({
       )}
 
       {editorMode === EditorMode.MQL && (
-        <MQLQueryEditor
-          onChange={(q: string) => onQueryChange({ ...query, query: q })}
-          onRunQuery={onRunQuery}
-          query={query.query}
-        ></MQLQueryEditor>
+        <>
+          <MQLQueryEditor
+            onChange={(q: string) => onQueryChange({ ...query, query: q })}
+            onRunQuery={onRunQuery}
+            query={query.query}
+          ></MQLQueryEditor>
+          <GraphPeriod
+            onChange={(graphPeriod: string) => onQueryChange({ ...query, graphPeriod })}
+            graphPeriod={query.graphPeriod}
+            refId={refId}
+            variableOptionGroup={variableOptionGroup}
+          />
+        </>
       )}
 
       <AliasBy
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/AlignmentPeriod.tsx b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/PeriodSelect.tsx
similarity index 63%
rename from public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/AlignmentPeriod.tsx
rename to public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/PeriodSelect.tsx
index 373626249f6..15aab5d45ef 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/AlignmentPeriod.tsx
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/PeriodSelect.tsx
@@ -3,39 +3,43 @@ import React, { useMemo } from 'react';
 import { SelectableValue } from '@grafana/data';
 import { Select } from '@grafana/ui';
 
-import { ALIGNMENT_PERIODS } from '../constants';
-import { MetricQuery, SLOQuery } from '../types';
+import { periodOption } from '../constants';
 
-export interface Props<TQuery> {
+export interface Props {
   inputId: string;
-  onChange(query: TQuery): void;
-  query: TQuery;
+  onChange: (period: string) => void;
   templateVariableOptions: Array<SelectableValue<string>>;
+  aligmentPeriods: periodOption[];
   selectWidth?: number;
+  category?: string;
+  disabled?: boolean;
+  current?: string;
 }
 
-export function AlignmentPeriod<TQuery extends MetricQuery | SLOQuery>({
+export function PeriodSelect({
   inputId,
   templateVariableOptions,
   onChange,
-  query,
+  current,
   selectWidth,
-}: Props<TQuery>) {
+  disabled,
+  aligmentPeriods,
+}: Props) {
   const options = useMemo(
     () =>
-      ALIGNMENT_PERIODS.map((ap) => ({
+      aligmentPeriods.map((ap) => ({
         ...ap,
         label: ap.text,
       })),
-    []
+    [aligmentPeriods]
   );
   const visibleOptions = useMemo(() => options.filter((ap) => !ap.hidden), [options]);
 
   return (
     <Select
       width={selectWidth}
-      onChange={({ value }) => onChange({ ...query, alignmentPeriod: value! })}
-      value={[...options, ...templateVariableOptions].find((s) => s.value === query.alignmentPeriod)}
+      onChange={({ value }) => onChange(value!)}
+      value={[...options, ...templateVariableOptions].find((s) => s.value === current)}
       options={[
         {
           label: 'Template Variables',
@@ -47,8 +51,10 @@ export function AlignmentPeriod<TQuery extends MetricQuery | SLOQuery>({
           options: visibleOptions,
         },
       ]}
-      placeholder="Select Alignment"
+      placeholder="Select Period"
       inputId={inputId}
+      disabled={disabled}
+      allowCustomValue
     ></Select>
   );
 }
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/SLO/SLOQueryEditor.tsx b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/SLO/SLOQueryEditor.tsx
index f33fe4e826b..a61376d06d8 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/SLO/SLOQueryEditor.tsx
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/SLO/SLOQueryEditor.tsx
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ import React from 'react';
 
 import { SelectableValue } from '@grafana/data';
 
-import { AliasBy, AlignmentPeriod, AlignmentPeriodLabel, Project, QueryEditorRow } from '..';
-import { SELECT_WIDTH } from '../../constants';
+import { AliasBy, PeriodSelect, AlignmentPeriodLabel, Project, QueryEditorRow } from '..';
+import { ALIGNMENT_PERIODS, SELECT_WIDTH } from '../../constants';
 import CloudMonitoringDatasource from '../../datasource';
 import { AlignmentTypes, CustomMetaData, SLOQuery } from '../../types';
 
@@ -71,15 +71,13 @@ export function SLOQueryEditor({
       ></Selector>
 
       <QueryEditorRow label="Alignment period" htmlFor={`${refId}-alignment-period`}>
-        <AlignmentPeriod
+        <PeriodSelect
           inputId={`${refId}-alignment-period`}
           templateVariableOptions={variableOptionGroup.options}
-          query={{
-            ...query,
-            perSeriesAligner: query.selectorName === 'select_slo_health' ? 'ALIGN_MEAN' : 'ALIGN_NEXT_OLDER',
-          }}
-          onChange={onChange}
           selectWidth={SELECT_WIDTH}
+          current={query.alignmentPeriod}
+          onChange={(period) => onChange({ ...query, alignmentPeriod: period })}
+          aligmentPeriods={ALIGNMENT_PERIODS}
         />
         <AlignmentPeriodLabel datasource={datasource} customMetaData={customMetaData} />
       </QueryEditorRow>
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/index.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/index.ts
index 260ac778bdb..0b51aad1ead 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/index.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/components/index.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ export { Alignment } from './Alignment';
 export { LabelFilter } from './LabelFilter';
 export { AnnotationsHelp } from './AnnotationsHelp';
 export { AlignmentFunction } from './AlignmentFunction';
-export { AlignmentPeriod } from './AlignmentPeriod';
 export { AlignmentPeriodLabel } from './AlignmentPeriodLabel';
 export { AliasBy } from './AliasBy';
 export { Aggregation } from './Aggregation';
@@ -14,4 +13,5 @@ export { SLOQueryEditor } from './SLO/SLOQueryEditor';
 export { MQLQueryEditor } from './MQLQueryEditor';
 export { VariableQueryField, QueryEditorRow, QueryEditorField } from './Fields';
 export { VisualMetricQueryEditor } from './VisualMetricQueryEditor';
+export { PeriodSelect } from './PeriodSelect';
 export { Preprocessor } from './Preprocessor';
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/constants.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/constants.ts
index df640dcaabf..25922d5cdd1 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/constants.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/constants.ts
@@ -226,7 +226,13 @@ export const AGGREGATIONS = [
   },
 ];
 
-export const ALIGNMENT_PERIODS = [
+export type periodOption = {
+  text: string;
+  value: string;
+  hidden?: boolean;
+};
+
+export const ALIGNMENT_PERIODS: periodOption[] = [
   { text: 'grafana auto', value: 'grafana-auto' },
   { text: 'stackdriver auto', value: 'stackdriver-auto', hidden: true },
   { text: 'cloud monitoring auto', value: 'cloud-monitoring-auto' },
@@ -243,6 +249,21 @@ export const ALIGNMENT_PERIODS = [
   { text: '1w', value: '+604800s' },
 ];
 
+export const GRAPH_PERIODS: periodOption[] = [
+  { text: 'auto', value: 'auto' },
+  { text: '1m', value: '1m' },
+  { text: '2m', value: '2m' },
+  { text: '5m', value: '5m' },
+  { text: '10m', value: '10m' },
+  { text: '30m', value: '30m' },
+  { text: '1h', value: '1h' },
+  { text: '3h', value: '3h' },
+  { text: '6h', value: '6h' },
+  { text: '1d', value: '1d' },
+  { text: '3d', value: '3d' },
+  { text: '1w', value: '1w' },
+];
+
 export const SYSTEM_LABELS = [
   'metadata.system_labels.cloud_account',
   'metadata.system_labels.name',
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/types.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/types.ts
index 7f456d4ec7b..8081d8c0ed0 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/types.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloud-monitoring/types.ts
@@ -126,6 +126,8 @@ export interface MetricQuery extends BaseQuery {
   view?: string;
   query: string;
   preprocessor?: PreprocessorType;
+  // To disable the graphPeriod, it should explictly be set to 'disabled'
+  graphPeriod?: 'disabled' | string;
 }
 
 export interface SLOQuery extends BaseQuery {