Do you want to illustrate table data with a pie chart? Excel allows you to create this type of easy-to-read pie chart in just a few clicks. Follow the guide, it’s very simple!

Do you want to illustrate table data with a pie chart? Excel allows you to create this type of easy-to-read pie chart in just a few clicks. Follow the guide, it’s very simple!

The “pie chart” – real name “pie chart” – is one of the most popular and practical types of charts. As its common name suggests in a very colorful way, it makes it possible to very quickly visualize the weight of each part in a complex data set, with proportional angular parts on a disk, like when cutting a cake. A simple stroke is enough to understand the relative importance of each section.

If this type of diagram is quite difficult to do “by hand”, it is on the other hand child’s play with Excel, which has powerful functions to automatically generate all kinds of graphs automatically from a set of data . Microsoft’s spreadsheet even offers an impressive range of tools for creating complex and personalized pie charts, with colors, percentages and legends, so much so that you can quickly feel lost. Fortunately, it’s very easy to quickly achieve a satisfactory, professional-looking result.

You can instantly get a pie chart with Excel from a simple data set. For the example, you can copy and paste the table below into an Excel spreadsheet, or use your own data if you have some on hand.

Keep in mind that for a pie chart to be readable, your data should not contain too many categories. Beyond a maximum of ten, the different “parts of the Camembert” will become too small to be interpreted correctly.

► In your Excel spreadsheet, select the data you want to graph.

► In the Ribbonclick on the tab Insertionthen in the group Chart click on the pie chart icon. In the list that appears, finally click on the type of pie chart you want.

► To obtain the “classic Camembert”, click on the first choice in the category 2D sectors.

► You can also opt for the so-called “donut” sector chart, which is a little more elegant and readable. To do this, click on the section icon Ring.

► Once the graphic is created, you can very easily make it look professional. Click on the chart area to bring up a tab Creating the chart in the Ribbon. In this tab, you can instantly apply a style to your chart, choosing from predefined templates.

► Still in the tab Creating the chartyou can change the default colors of the chart sectors using the button Change colorswhich is just to the left of the list of predefined styles.

► To make your chart easier to read, you can display the numerical value of each sector. To do this, click on the green plus button to the right of the graph, then check the box Data labels.

► You can change the font size and style of data labels to make them more readable. To do this, select the data labels by clicking on one of them, all the labels are then surrounded by a four-point frame. Then click on the tab Welcome in the Ribbonthen change the font size and style as you normally do.

► It is possible to apply complex formatting to data labels. To do this, right-click on one of the data labels, then click Format data labels in the context menu. A side panel will then appear to the right of the spreadsheet.

► This panel gives you access to a wide range of tools and formatting options. For example, you can create a frame around your data labels and choose the color to make them stand out even more.

Since pie charts represent proportions, it is very useful to show the percentage share of each sector, in addition to its absolute value.

► In the Data Label Formatting panel, click Label Options then on the last icon on the right, and check the box Percentage.

► If the data labels become too large and obscure the chart, you can move them manually with the mouse. Click on one of the data labels and, while holding down the mouse button, move the label to the desired location. Then repeat the operation for each label, until you obtain the arrangement that suits you.

This is only a small part of the possibilities offered by Excel for creating and formatting pie charts. To learn more and become an expert in diagramming with Microsoft Table, you can consult our complete guide on the subject.