How to create an Arc length chart in PowerPoint

PowerPoint 2016
Today there are many presentations with somewhat different variations of doughnut charts, like arc length charts 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 365    or    Arc length chart 2 in PowerPoint 365

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 365

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

Doughnut chart in PowerPoint 365

   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 365

   3.2.   Add the new column with formulas:

Doughnut chart formula in PowerPoint 365

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

Select data in PowerPoint 365

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

Select Data Source in PowerPoint 365

PowerPoint changes your data like in the chart below:

Doughnut chart with several levels in PowerPoint 365

   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 365

   6.2.   On 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 365
    Angle of first slice in chart PowerPoint 365
  • Doughnut or Point Explosion (it is visible only for the top layer), for example:
    Point Explosion in PowerPoint 365
    Point Explosion in chart PowerPoint 365
  • Doughnut Hole Size, for example:
    Doughnut Hole Size in PowerPoint 365
    Doughnut Hole Size in chart PowerPoint 365

   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 365

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

Format Data Point pane in PowerPoint 365

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

Hidden data in PowerPoint 365

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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