What Is a Bubble Chart in Excel?

A bubble chart in Excel is one of the most effective ways to tell a complex data story in a simple, visual format. By showing three different dimensions of data at once, it helps you spot relationships and outliers you might otherwise miss. This article breaks down exactly what a bubble chart is, when to use one, and provides a step-by-step walkthrough of how to build one in Excel.

What Exactly Is a Bubble Chart?

Think of a bubble chart as a scatter plot with an added twist. While a standard scatter plot uses two axes (X and Y) to plot data points, a bubble chart adds a third dimension: the size of the bubble. This allows you to show the relationship between three distinct variables simultaneously.

Here’s how the three components work together:

The X-Axis (Horizontal Position): Represents the first numerical variable.
The Y-Axis (Vertical Position): Represents the second numerical variable.
The Bubble Size: Represents the third numerical variable. A larger bubble indicates a larger value, while a smaller bubble represents a smaller value.

For example, imagine you’re analyzing marketing campaigns. You could use a bubble chart to visualize:

X-Axis: Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
Y-Axis: Conversion Rate
Bubble Size: Total Campaign Spend

Instantly, you could see which campaigns have a low CPA and a high conversion rate (the top performers, located in the upper-left of the chart) and which of those also had the highest spend (the biggest bubbles). This kind of multi-dimensional insight is where bubble charts truly shine.

When Should You Use a Bubble Chart?

Bubble charts are powerful, but they aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Knowing when to use them is just as important as knowing how to build them.

Ideal Scenarios for a Bubble Chart

Visualizing Three Data Dimensions: This is their primary purpose. Anytime you need to show the relationship between three quantitative variables, a bubble chart is an excellent choice.
Identifying Relationships and Clusters: They make it easy to see how variables interact. You can quickly spot clusters of data points with similar characteristics or identify outliers that don’t fit the general pattern.
Comparing Project or Product Portfolios: Bubble charts are fantastic for strategic analysis, like comparing products based on revenue (X-axis), profit margin (Y-axis), and market share (bubble size).
Analyzing Financial or Market Data: Use them to compare investment opportunities based on metrics like potential return, risk level, and investment size.

When to Avoid a Bubble Chart

You Only Have Two Variables: If you only need to plot two sets of data, a simpler chart like a scatter plot or a bar chart will likely be clearer and easier for your audience to understand. Adding a third (and unnecessary) dimension will only add confusion.
Your Data Lacks a Wide Range: If the values for the bubble size are all very similar, the differences will be too subtle to see. This defeats the purpose of the chart, as viewers won't be able to distinguish between data points easily.
You Have Too Much Data: An overcrowded bubble chart is a useless bubble chart. If you have hundreds of data points, the bubbles will overlap and obscure each other, creating a cloud of visual clutter that is impossible to interpret.
Bubble Size Values Are Negative: Excel cannot plot negative values as a bubble size. If your third dimension includes negative numbers, you'll need to find a different visualization method.

How to Create a Bubble Chart in Excel (Step-by-Step Guide)

Now, let's walk through the practical steps of creating a bubble chart. We'll use a sample dataset for marketing campaign analysis to make it easy to follow along.

Step 1: Prepare and Structure Your Data

This is the most critical step. Your bubble chart will only be as good as the data you feed it. Make sure your data is clean, organized, and structured correctly in columns.

For a bubble chart, you need at least three columns of numerical data. It's also helpful to have a fourth column for categories or labels. The order matters for easy setup in Excel.

Column 1: Data Point Labels (e.g., Campaign Name)
Column 2: X-Axis Values (e.g., Average Cost Per Click)
Column 3: Y-Axis Values (e.g., Click-Through Rate %)
Column 4: Bubble Size Values (e.g., Total Spend)

Here’s what our sample marketing campaign data looks like:

Placing your X, Y, and Size data in that specific order makes creating the chart in Excel much faster, as it will automatically recognize the standard format.

Step 2: Insert the Bubble Chart

With your data correctly formatted, inserting the chart is just a few clicks away.

First, highlight the numerical data you want to plot. In our example, select the cells containing the Average CPC, CTR, and Total Spend data (B2:D9).

Next, navigate to the Excel ribbon:

Click the Insert tab.
In the Charts group, click the icon for Insert Scatter (X, Y) or Bubble Chart.
From the dropdown menu, select either Bubble or 3-D Bubble. We'll use the standard Bubble option for this example.

Excel will instantly generate a basic bubble chart on your worksheet.

Step 3: Customize and Format Your Chart

Now you have a chart, but it’s not very useful yet. It’s missing context - titles, labels, and clear formatting. This is where you transform a raw chart into a powerful data visualization.

Add Chart Titles and Axis Labels

Your chart needs a clear title and named axes so anyone viewing it can immediately understand what they're looking at. To add these, click on the chart, then click the green “+” icon (Chart Elements) that appears on the top-right.

Check the box for Chart Title. Double-click the title on the chart to edit it.
Check the box for Axis Titles. Double-click each axis title to name them appropriately (e.g., "Average Cost Per Click" for the X-axis and "Click-Through Rate (%)" for the Y-axis).

Add Data Labels to Bubbles

The plain bubbles aren't very informative on their own. You want to see which campaign each bubble represents. You can replace the default number labels (or add context) with your campaign names from Column A.

Click the “+” icon again and check Data Labels. Right now, this will probably just show the Y-axis value.
Hover over Data Labels, click the arrow that appears, and select More Options…. This opens the Format Data Labels pane on the right side of the screen.
In the Label Options section, uncheck "Y Value" and check Value From Cells.

A small "Data Label Range" window will pop up. Select your campaign names from Column A (A2:A9).

Click OK. Your bubbles will now be labeled with the campaign names, which is far more useful.

Adjust Bubble Size Scaling

Sometimes, the bubbles are too large and overlap, or they're too small to differentiate. You can adjust the scale to make the size differences more pronounced and visually appealing.

Double-click on any of the bubbles in your chart. This will open the Format Data Series pane.
Under Series Options, you'll see a setting for scaling the bubble size. The default is typically 100%.
You can adjust this percentage up or down. A smaller number (e.g., 70) will shrink the bubbles, while a larger number will expand them. Find a value that makes the size differences clear without causing excessive overlap.

Tips for Making Your Bubble Chart More Effective

A technically correct chart isn't always an effective one. Follow these design tips to ensure your chart is clear, compelling, and easy to interpret.

Keep It Clean: Don’t overload your chart with too many data points. A busy chart quickly becomes unreadable. If you have a large dataset, consider filtering it to show only the most important points or categories.
Use Color Meaningfully: Color can add a fourth dimension to your chart. For example, if your campaigns belong to different categories (e.g., Social, Search, Email), you could manually color each bubble based on its category to add another layer of insight. Just be sure to include a legend explaining what the colors mean.
Guide Your Audience: A bubble chart often tells a story. Use annotations or a summary to point out the key takeaways. For instance, you could highlight the cluster of "high-spend, low-performing" campaigns in the bottom-right corner or the "highly efficient" campaign in the top-left.
Format Tooltips: Viewers will likely hover over bubbles to see their exact values. Make sure your tooltips are formatted clearly and display the X, Y, and Size values with descriptive labels so the information is quickly understood.
Don't Forget a Legend: Especially if you add color categories, a legend is non-negotiable. It's the map that helps your audience decode the visual information you’ve presented.

When you're done, you'll have a fully formatted, easy-to-read chart that tells a clear story with your data.

Final Thoughts

Bubble charts are an incredibly powerful tool in Excel for visualizing three dimensions of data at once. They help you compare data points, uncover hidden relationships, and present complex information with clarity and impact. By structuring your data properly and using Excel's formatting tools, you can move beyond simple bar graphs and create insightful portfolio-style analyses.

While creating charts like this in Excel is absolutely doable, it can still involve a lot of manual data wrangling, especially when you need to pull fresh data from ads platforms, your CRM, or your sales tools weekly. We built Graphed to automate that process. You connect your data sources once, and instead of manually mapping columns or managing spreadsheets, you can just ask in plain English - "show me a chart comparing campaign spend, CTR, and CPC" - and get a real-time visualization in seconds, with all your data always up to date.