How to Create a Progress Doughnut Chart in Excel

Creating a progress doughnut chart in Excel can be a powerful way to visualize data, especially when you want to show a percentage of completion or a proportion of parts to a whole. This guide will walk you through the process, from setting up your data to creating and customizing your doughnut chart.

Before we dive in, ensure you have Microsoft Excel installed on your computer. We'll be using Excel 2016 or later for this tutorial, but the steps are similar in earlier versions.

Preparing Your Data

First, let's set up some sample data. Suppose we're tracking the progress of a project with four tasks: Task A, Task B, Task C, and Task D. We'll use two columns: one for task names and one for completion percentages.

Here's how your data should look:

Selecting Your Data

Select the entire range of data, including the headers. For our example, this would be A1:B5.

Now, let's create a doughnut chart to visualize this data.

Creating the Doughnut Chart

With your data selected, click on the 'Insert' tab in the Excel ribbon. In the 'Charts' group, click on 'Doughnut'. Excel will insert a basic doughnut chart based on your data.

In the 'Insert Chart' pane that appears, select the 'Doughnut' chart type. You can choose between a standard doughnut chart and an exploded doughnut chart. For this tutorial, let's go with the standard doughnut chart.

Customizing Your Doughnut Chart

Now that we have a basic doughnut chart, let's make it look more professional and easier to read.

Adding a Title

To add a title to your chart, click on the chart to select it, then click on the 'Chart Design' tab in the Excel ribbon. In the 'Add Chart Element' group, click on 'Chart Title', then 'Above Chart'. Enter your title in the 'Has Title' box that appears.

For our example, let's use "Project Progress" as the title.

Formatting the Chart

To change the colors and styles of your chart, click on the chart to select it, then click on the 'Format Selection' button in the 'Chart Tools' group on the 'Home' tab. This will open the 'Format Selection' pane on the right side of the screen.

Here, you can change the fill color, border color, and other formatting options for each slice of the doughnut chart. You can also add data labels, change the chart style, and more.

For our example, let's change the fill color of each slice to a different shade of blue, and add data labels that show the task name and completion percentage.

And there you have it! You've created a professional-looking progress doughnut chart in Excel. This chart can help you and your team track project progress at a glance, and it's easy to update as tasks are completed.

Now that you know how to create a doughnut chart, why not try creating other types of charts in Excel? With a little practice, you'll be a chart pro in no time. Happy charting!