How to create an Arc length chart in PowerPoint

PowerPoint 365
Today there are many presentations with somewhat different variations of doughnut charts, like arc length chart where the presenter wants to show progress for several parameters in one chart. It is easy to create your own progress pie chart in Microsoft PowerPoint.

This tip is about some tricks on how to create an Arc length chart:

Arc length chart in PowerPoint 2016    or    Arc length chart 2 in PowerPoint 2016

To create a progress Arc length chart, do the following:

   1.   On the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click the Chart button:

Chart in PowerPoint 2016

   2.   In the Insert Chart dialog box, on the Pie tab, choose the Doughnut chart:

Doughnut chart in PowerPoint 2016

   3.   In the Chart in Microsoft PowerPoint dialog box:

   3.1.   Enter as many streams of your doughnut chart as you want, and with volumes, you need:

Doughnut chart data in PowerPoint 2016

   3.2.   Add the new column with formulas:

Doughnut chart formula in PowerPoint 2016

   4.   Under Chart Tools, on the Design tab, in the Data group, click on the Select Data button:

Select data in PowerPoint 2016

   5.   On the Select Data Source dialog box, click on the Switch Row/Column button:

Select Data Source in PowerPoint 2016

PowerPoint changes your data like in the chart below:

Doughnut chart with several levels in PowerPoint 2016

   6.   Change the width of the pie chart layers:

   6.1.   Right-click on your chart data and choose Format Data Series... in the popup menu:

Format Data Series in popup PowerPoint 2016

   6.2.   In the Format Data Series pane, on the Series Options tab, choose the volumes of the following fields:

  • Angle of first slice, for example:
    Angle of first slice in PowerPoint 2016     Angle of first slice in chart PowerPoint 2016
  • Doughnut or Point Explosion (it is visible only for the top layer), for example:
    Point Explosion in PowerPoint 2016     Point Explosion in chart PowerPoint 2016
  • Doughnut Hole Size, for example:
    Doughnut Hole Size in PowerPoint 2016     Doughnut Hole Size in chart PowerPoint 2016

   7.   Hide unneeded data:

   7.1.   Right-click on any slice of the data, which you want to hide, and select Format Data Point... in the popup menu:

Format Data Point in popup PowerPoint 2016

   7.2.   In the Format Data Point pane, on the Fill & Line tab, in the Fill section, choose No fill:

Format Data Point pane in PowerPoint 2016

   7.3.   Repeat the previous step for all data points you want to hide:

Hidden data in PowerPoint 2016

Make any other adjustments to get the desired appearance.

See also this tip in French: Comment créer le diagramme circulaire de progrès dans PowerPoint.

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