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How to Make a Pie Chart in Excel

Create a pie chart in Excel by selecting category names and values, inserting a pie chart, and adding a clear title or helpful data labels.
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To make a pie chart in Excel, select one row or column of category names and their values, then choose Insert > Insert Pie or Doughnut Chart and select a pie-chart style. Add a clear title and, if they help explain the chart, data labels such as category names or percentages.

Check that your data fits a pie chart

A pie chart shows how each category contributes to a whole: each slice represents a data point’s size relative to the total. Microsoft recommends using one data series, values greater than zero, and no more than seven categories. More slices can make the chart difficult to read. See Microsoft’s guidance on pie charts.

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  • Put category names and their values together in a single row or column.
  • Use a pie chart when the categories are parts of one meaningful total.
  • If you have several series, zero or negative values, or many categories, consider a bar, column, or line chart instead.
  • If a few small categories are hard to distinguish, Excel also offers pie-of-pie and bar-of-pie chart types, which separate smaller values into a secondary chart.

Insert a pie chart

  1. Arrange the data. Place each category name next to its corresponding value in one row or column.
  2. Select the data. Include the category names and all values you want represented.
  3. Choose the chart. On the ribbon, select Insert > Insert Pie or Doughnut Chart, then choose a pie-chart type.
  4. Review the result. Check that the slices and any displayed categories match the data you selected.

Microsoft documents this workflow for Excel for Microsoft 365 and Excel 2024, 2021, 2019, and 2016. Exact controls can vary by edition and platform; the steps here avoid assuming identical Windows, Mac, and web interfaces. For the documented workflow and available chart types, see Add a pie chart.

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Add a descriptive chart title

Select the chart title and replace its placeholder text with a specific description, such as “2025 household spending by category.” A useful title tells readers what the slices represent, rather than simply saying “Pie Chart.” Excel’s title controls can also be used to add or remove chart titles. Pie charts have no axes, so they cannot display axis titles. See Microsoft’s chart-title instructions.

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Show percentages or category names

Data labels can identify slices with percentages, category names, or series names. Select the chart and use its chart controls to add data labels, then adjust which information they show and where they appear. The exact controls may differ across Excel editions. Microsoft’s instructions cover formatting data labels and editing or removing titles and labels.

  • Use percentages when readers need to compare each slice’s share of the whole.
  • Use category names when the slices are not self-explanatory.
  • Choose only the label details readers need. Too much text can crowd the chart; move labels if they overlap, or remove them if the chart becomes cluttered.

Change the chart’s appearance

Select the chart and use the chart controls to change its style or color, or to show and hide displayed data. In Microsoft’s documented workflow these controls are called Chart Elements, Chart Styles, and Chart Filters. Their location or presentation can vary by Excel edition.

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Keep chart text linked to worksheet cells

You can link a chart title or label to a worksheet cell so that changes to the cell update the chart text. If you edit that text directly on the chart, the link breaks. To preserve automatic updates, change the source cell instead. See Microsoft’s instructions for editing chart titles and data labels.

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Make the chart easier to understand with a screen reader

Give the chart a meaningful title instead of leaving generic placeholder text, and add alt text so people using a screen reader can understand what the chart presents. Microsoft’s accessibility guidance covers Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel 2024, and Excel 2021 for Windows and Mac; it does not establish that every platform has identical controls. See Create more accessible charts in Excel.

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