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Create a Pie of Pie Chart in Excel 2013

    Pie of Pie Chart

    Learn how to create a Pie of Pie chart by watching the video below and/or by following our tutorial. Please see our Excel Dashboard training course if you would like this training delivered at your place of work.

    Pie of Pie charts are useful if you have several categories of data that end up representing small slices in your pie chart. A pie of pie chart will enable you to move these small slices to a separate pie chart so that they are easier to read.

    To create a Pie of Pie, click into your chart data and on the Ribbon’s INSERT tab click on the Pie button in the Charts group. The Pie of Pie chart type is in this menu.

    creating a pie of pie chart

    In the example below Bert, Brenda and Barbara ended up getting the smallest share of sales for 2013.  Their slices would have looked tiny on the main pie chart, but moved over to the second pie – they are much easier to read. Notice that the main pie includes a slice called “Other”.  “Other” represents the combined share of the categories in the second pie.

    pie of pie chart in excel

    So how does Excel decide which categories of data to put in the second pie?  By default it selects based on position, selecting the last three categories in your chart data. In my chart data (opposite), I’ve sorted the sales values in descending order so that worst performers end up in the second pie.

    pie of pie chart data

    You can change the number of categories that move to the second pie.  In Excel 2013, right-click on one of the pies and select Format Data SeriesIn your task pane you can now change the Values in second plot setting.

    format data series for a pie of pie chart

    Position is not the only way Excel allows you to specify which categories are placed in the second pie.  In the Split Series menu you will find three more options:

    • Value – this allows you to specify a threshold under which values are moved to the second pie
    • Percentage value – like value, but here you specify a % threshold
    • Custom – allows you to manually select a slice and then designate a plot

    You may want to experiment with the gap between the two pies as well as the size of the second plot (Microsoft’s jargon for the second pie).  Use the sliders in the task pane to achieve this.

    Welcome to Blue Pecan: we offer tailored In house/ onsite Excel training at your business premises. We are based in Sussex, UK and cover the home counties and London including Sussex, Dorset, Hampshire, Kent, Essex, Berkshire & Buckinghamshire. Call 0800 612 4105 to enquire.

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