How to Use Bar of Pie Chart in Excel

A pie chart filled with dozens of tiny, unreadable slices is more confusing than it is helpful. This common problem often sends people looking for a better way to visualize data with a few dominant categories and many smaller ones. If that sounds familiar, the Bar of Pie chart in Excel is exactly what you need. This article dives into how to create, customize, and effectively use this unique chart to make your reports cleaner and more insightful.

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What is a Bar of Pie Chart?

A Bar of Pie chart is a specific type of pie chart in Excel that helps you declutter your data visualization. It takes a standard pie chart and groups the smallest slices into a single category, typically labeled "Other." It then "explodes" this "Other" slice into a separate bar chart right next to the pie, showing you the individual values that make up that group.

Think of it as a pie chart with a built-in zoom feature for the least significant data points. This allows your audience to see the big picture immediately from the main pie chart while still having the ability to inspect the smaller, contributing pieces in the secondary bar chart. It masterfully solves the problem of data overload in a single, easy-to-read graphic.

When Should You Use a Bar of Pie Chart? An Example

The best time to use a Bar of Pie chart is when you're communicating parts of a whole, but several of those parts are so small that they would get lost in a standard pie chart. Grouping them makes the primary pie cleaner and focusing on them in a separate bar chart gives them the attention they deserve without cluttering the main story.

Imagine you're a marketing manager reporting on website conversions by channel for the month. Your data might look something like this:

• Organic Search: 1500 conversions
• Paid Search: 1250 conversions
• Direct Traffic: 900 conversions
• Email Marketing: 450 conversions
• Social Media: 85 conversions
• Referral A: 50 conversions
• Referral B: 35 conversions
• Affiliates: 20 conversions

If you put all eight categories into one pie chart, the last four channels would be practically invisible slivers. Instead, a Bar of Pie chart would let you show the top four channels in the main pie, group the bottom four into an "Other" category, and then display Social Media, Referrals A and B, and Affiliates in the attached bar chart. This immediately communicates your primary conversion drivers while still providing a detailed breakdown of the long-tail channels.

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How to Create a Bar of Pie Chart in Excel: Step-by-Step

Creating the chart is straightforward, but customizing it to represent your data accurately is where the real skill comes in. Let's walk through the entire process from data setup to the final chart.

Step 1: Prepare and Select Your Data

First, organize your data in two columns in your Excel sheet. One column should contain the category names (the labels), and the adjacent column should contain their corresponding numerical values. It’s a good practice to sort your data from largest to smallest value. This helps Excel correctly group the smallest items by default.

Using our marketing example from above, your sheet would look like this:

Once your data is ready, highlight the entire data range, including the headers (e.g., cell A1 to B9 in our example).

Step 2: Insert the Chart

With your data selected, navigate to the Excel ribbon at the top of the screen.

1. Click on the Insert tab.
2. In the Charts group, click on the icon that looks like a pie chart to open the dropdown menu.
3. In the Pie section, you'll see a few options. Hover your mouse over the icons to see their names. Select Bar of Pie.

Excel will instantly insert a default Bar of Pie chart onto your worksheet. But don't stop here - the default settings are rarely what you need. The next step is to format it to tell the right story.

How to Customize Your Bar of Pie Chart

The power of the Bar of Pie chart lies in its customization options, specifically how you "split" the data between the pie and the bar. By default, Excel usually just takes the smallest three values and puts them in the bar, but you might want to show more or less detail.

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Splitting the Data Series Correctly

To access the main formatting options, right-click on any slice of the pie chart and select Format Data Series... from the dropdown menu. A new pane will open on the right side of your screen with options under "Series Options."

Here you’ll find the critical "Split Series By" setting. This tells Excel what data points should be moved from the primary pie into the secondary bar. You have four choices:

1. Split Series by Position

This is the default setting. It takes a specific number of data points from the bottom of your data list and moves them to the bar. If you set "Values in second plot" to 4, it will take the last four entries in your dataset and display them in the bar. This is simple, but it can be brittle, if your data changes later, the chart might break the wrong items.

2. Split Series by Value

This allows you to set a numerical threshold. Any data point with a value below that threshold will automatically be moved to the secondary bar. For our marketing example, if you set "Values less than" to 100, Excel would move Social Media (85), Referral A (50), Referral B (35), and Affiliates (20) to the bar automatically. This is much more dynamic than splitting by position.

3. Split Series by Percentage Value

This option is often the most useful. It's similar to splitting by value but uses percentages of the total instead of absolute numbers. You can specify that any slice making up less than, say, 5% of the total pie gets moved to the bar chart. It’s an effective way to dynamically group the smallest contributors, regardless of their raw values, making your report template reusable even as the numbers change.

4. Custom Split

This option gives you full manual control. When you choose "Custom," you can click on any individual slice in the main pie chart and, in the "Format Data Series" pane, choose to move it to the "First Plot" (the pie) or the "Second Plot" (the bar). This is perfect for situations where you have a specific story to tell and need to manually group certain categories, even if one is slightly larger or smaller than an automatic threshold.

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Enhancing the Chart's Appearance

Once you’ve correctly split your data, it's time to clean up the chart's appearance. Here are a few essential adjustments you should make:

• Add a Clear Title: Replace the default "Chart Title" with something descriptive, like "Monthly Website Conversions by Channel."
• Add Data Labels: Right-click the chart and choose "Add Data Labels." By default, this may just add the value. For better context, right-click the labels themselves, select "Format Data Labels," and check the boxes for "Category Name" and "Percentage." This makes your chart readable without needing a legend.
• Adjust the Gap and Size: In the "Format Data Series" pane, you can adjust the "Gap Width" to change the distance between the pie and the bar. You can also adjust the "Second Plot Size" to make the bar chart bigger or smaller relative to the pie.
• Use Colors Thoughtfully: Use Excel’s "Chart Design" tab to select a color palette that is clear and professional. You can also manually change the color of the "Other" slice to a neutral gray to signify it’s a collection of smaller items, while keeping the main pie slices more vibrant.

Best Practices and Common Mistakes to Avoid

Just because you can make a chart doesn’t always mean you should. Here are a few final tips to ensure your Bar of Pie chart is effective and not misleading.

Best Practices:

• K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Slicer): Aim for no more than 4-5 main slices in your primary pie. The whole point is to reduce clutter, so don't be afraid to group categories.
• Label Logically: Ensure the pie slice that represents the total of the bar chart is clearly labeled as "Other" or "All Other Channels."
• Order Your Data: Always sort your underlying data from largest to smallest. It makes the chart construction more predictable and easier to read.

Common Mistakes to Avoid:

• Putting Too Much in the Main Pie: If you still have seven or eight slices in the main pie, you’ve defeated the chart’s purpose. Be more aggressive with what you move to the bar.
• Breaking Up Mid-Tier Categories: Splitting data illogically is a common issue. Moving a category that is a significant driver into the "Other" secondary plot can distort the main takeaway of the chart. The secondary bar is for your long tail of contributors.
• Using it When a Bar Chart is Better: Remember, pie charts are for showing parts of a whole where proportions matter. If the relationships between data points are more important than their contribution to a total, a simple horizontal bar chart is usually clearer and easier to read.

Final Thoughts

The Bar of Pie chart is an excellent tool in your Excel toolbox for bringing clarity to complex datasets. By grouping smaller items into an "Other" category and displaying them in a secondary bar, you can present a clean, high-level summary and provide detailed context in one go.

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