Enter and Select the Tutorial Data
A pie chart is a visual representation of data and is used to display the amounts of several categories relative to the total value of all categories. Pie charts are used, for example, to show the production of one factory in relation to the output of the company or to show the revenue generated by one product relative to the sales of the entire product line. Before you create a pie chart, enter the chart data. Then, highlight the data you want to use in the pie chart. To follow along with this tutorial, enter the data shown in the image above into a blank worksheet.
Create the Basic Pie Chart
The basic pie chart is a plain, unformatted chart that displays the categories of data, a legend, and a default chart title. To create a pie chart, highlight the data in cells A3 to B6 and follow these directions:
Add the Chart Title
Edit the default chart title to add a more suitable one.
Add Data Labels to the Pie Chart
There are many different parts to a chart in Excel, such as the plot area that contains the pie chart representing the selected data series, the legend, and the chart title and labels. All these parts are separate objects, and each can be formatted separately. To tell Excel which part of the chart you want to format, select it. If you don’t get the desired results, the right part of the chart was not selected. A common mistake is selecting the plot area in the center of the chart when the intention is to select the entire chart. The easiest way to select the entire chart is to select a corner of the chart. If you make a mistake, use the Excel undo feature to remove the mistake. Then, select the right part of the chart and try again. To add data labels to a pie chart:
Change Colors
When a chart is created in Excel, or whenever an existing chart is selected, two additional tabs are added to the ribbon. These Chart Tools tabs, Design and Format, contain formatting and layout options specifically for charts. To change the color of the slices, background, or text:
Explode a Piece of the Pie Chart
When you want to add emphasis to a slice of the pie, drag or explode the slice from the rest of the pie. After a slide is exploded, the rest of the pie chart shrinks so that the chart area stays the same size. To explode a slice of a pie chart:
