How to Make a Pie Chart in Google Sheets

When it comes to visualizing data, the pie chart is a powerful tool. Pie charts are a great way to visualize the proportions of each category that make up the whole. For example, you can show how much each item in your budget represents with respect to the whole budget. In Google Sheets, you can easily create simple pie charts, doughnut charts, and 3D pie charts. You can customize their contents and appearance as you wish.

In this post, you will learn how to make a simple pie chart in Google Sheets. You will also learn how to customize your pie charts’ contents and appearance to your needs by displaying percentages, adding labels, or turning it into a doughnut chart or 3D pie chart. Finally, you will learn how to edit your pie chart to change the chart style or the data range.

How to Make a Pie Chart in Google Sheets?

First, let’s create a simple pie chart based on a monthly budget. The table below contains the expense names and amounts used for the pie chart.

1. 1. Open the Google Sheets file with the data.

1. 2. Select the columns with the data.

1. 3. Go to Insert > Chart.

1. 4. That’s it. Google Sheets recognized the type of data and automatically inserted a pie chart. If it doesn’t recognize it automatically, check out the section on how to change the chart style.

How to Customize a Pie Chart in Google Sheets?

Now that you have a basic pie chart, let’s see how you can customize it to suit your needs and preferences. Follow the instructions below to change your pie chart to a 3D pie chart or a doughnut chart, display the percentages without labels, or change how the labels appear.

How to Make a 3D Pie Chart in Google Sheets?

Double-click your current pie chart to get the ‘Chart editor’ sidebar.

1. 1. Click the ‘Customize' tab in the ‘Chart editor’.

1. 2. Click ‘Chart style’ to expand the options.

1. 3. Check the “3D” checkbox to turn it into a 3D pie chart.

1. 4. Alternatively, you can change it under ‘Chart type’ in the ‘Setup’ tab.

How to Make a Doughnut Chart in Google Sheets?

If you prefer, you can quickly turn your pie chart into a doughnut chart.

1. 1. Double-click your pie chart to get the ‘Chart editor’ sidebar. In the ‘Setup’ tab, click the drop-down under ‘Chart type’.

1. 2. Scroll down to the ‘Pie’ area and select the doughnut chart.

1. 3. That’s it. Your doughnut chart is ready.

How to Make a Pie Chart with Percentages in Google Sheets?

As you saw in the first section, Google Sheets automatically adds labels with the category name and the corresponding percentage. However, you may prefer to display the percentages directly in the corresponding slices of the pie chart.

1. 1. Double-click your pie chart to access the ‘Chart editor’ sidebar.

1. 2. Click the ‘Customize’ tab, then on ‘Pie chart’ to expand the options.

1. 3. Click the dropdown menu under ‘Slice label’ and select ‘Percentage’.

1. 4. That’s it. Since the percentages are shown within the pie slices, you don’t need to display them in the legend.

1. 5. Under ‘Customize’, click ‘Legend’ to display the options.

1. 6. Next, click the dropdown menu under ‘Position’ and select one of the options. For this example, I want to display the legend to the left of the pie chart.

1. 7. That’s it. Your pie chart has a legend to identify the different categories, and the percentages are displayed directly in the slices.

How to Make a Pie Chart with Labels in Google Sheets?

You can do this if you prefer not to show the values or percentages and only want the labels.

1. 1. In the ‘Customize’ tab of the ‘Chart editor’, click ‘Pie chart’ to expand the options.

1. 2. Click the dropdown menu under ‘Slice label’ and select ‘Label’.

1. 3. That’s it. The labels are now included within each slice. To remove the legend on the left, click ‘Legend’ in the sidebar to expand the options.

1. 4. Click the dropdown under ‘Position’ and select ‘None’.

1. 5. That’s it. The legend is gone.

How to Edit a Pie Chart in Google Sheets?

Once you have created a pie chart, editing it is easy. Follow the instructions below to change the chart style or the data range.

Change the Chart Type

To change the chart style.

1. 1. Click the vertical ellipsis in the top-right corner of the chart and choose ‘Edit chart’.

1. 2. In the ‘Customize’ tab, under ‘Chart style’, you can choose the background and border colors, as well as the font.

1. 3. In addition to changing it to a 3D pie chart, you can check ‘Maximize’ to maximize the amount of space used by the pie chart.

Change the Data Range

To change the data range used for your pie chart.

1. 1. Right-click anywhere in the chart area and select ‘Data range’ from the menu.

1. 2. You can modify the range manually or use the button shown below to select the range.

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Conclusion

As you have seen, pie charts visually represent the proportions that make up a whole. This makes them ideal to use when dealing with a small number of categories or values. However, if you have too many categories, it can become visually confusing. In other words, the pie will be divided into so many slices it will be difficult to read and interpret.

You now know how to create a simple pie chart in Google Sheets. Additionally, you know how to make a 3D pie chart, a doughnut chart, how to display percentages, and how to add labels. You also know how to edit your pie chart to change the style or the data range. To learn more about creating charts and tables in Google Sheets, check out our guides on:

• How to Create and Use a Pivot Table in Google Sheets
• How to Make a Table in Google Sheets
• How to Make a Gantt Chart in Google Sheets