Nested Pie Chart in Excel: Create and Format a Sunburst

To make a nested pie chart in Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows, arrange your categories in separate hierarchy columns and put the amounts in the last column, select the table, then choose Insert > Insert Hierarchy Chart > Sunburst. A Sunburst chart is Excel’s built-in chart for showing nested levels; use a doughnut chart instead if you specifically want one ring for each data series.

What Excel Means by a Nested Pie Chart

“Nested pie chart” is a descriptive name rather than the name of a single Excel chart type. People may mean a chart that divides a circle into parent-and-child categories, or simply a pie chart with several concentric rings. Excel offers two relevant choices: Sunburst and Doughnut.

A Sunburst chart represents a hierarchy. Its center is the top level, and each level of child categories appears in another ring moving outward. For example, a company could show total sales at the center, regions in the next ring, product groups beyond those, and individual products on the outside. The angle occupied by each segment represents its value in relation to the other segments at the same parent level.

A doughnut chart, by contrast, uses a separate data series for each ring. It can create a multi-ring appearance, but it does not automatically interpret rows as a parent-child hierarchy. This distinction matters: for nested categories such as region, department, and item, Sunburst is usually the clearest starting point.

Prepare the Data as a Hierarchy

Excel needs one column for each level of the hierarchy and a numeric value column. Keep each row as a leaf-level observation: the row should identify a complete path from its highest category down to the item being measured.

For example, a sales table might contain columns named Region, Product group, Product, and Sales. A row could read North, Furniture, Desk, 1200. Another could read North, Furniture, Chair, 800. The chart can then show North as a parent of Furniture, with Desk and Chair as its children.

Use a clear heading for every column, including the values column.
Repeat the parent labels on each applicable detail row. Do not leave a parent blank just because it matches the row above.
Put the measured values in the final column, and use consistent units such as dollars or units sold.
Use detail rows rather than adding parent subtotals alongside the detail. Including both a subtotal and its children can count the same value twice.
Check that category names are consistent. Excel treats spelling variations such as Office and office as separate labels.

For instance, if North sales total 2,000, with Desk at 1,200 and Chair at 800, include the two product rows. Do not add a third North subtotal row of 2,000 to the same source data: the subtotal duplicates the children’s value. Excel will aggregate the child values to form the parent segment.

Create a Sunburst Chart in Excel

Arrange the source data in adjacent columns with headers, as described above. Remove blank rows inside the data range.
Select the full range, including the column headings.
On the Windows ribbon, choose Insert > Insert Hierarchy Chart > Sunburst. In some ribbon layouts, the hierarchy chart choices are grouped under Insert > Hierarchy Chart.
Excel inserts the chart in the worksheet. Drag it to position it, or use the sizing handles to make room for the labels.
Click the chart title and type a specific title, such as Sales by Region, Product Group, and Product.

On Excel for Mac, select the data and use Insert > Hierarchy > Sunburst; the group name and ribbon arrangement can vary slightly by release. The chart is also available in current desktop versions of Excel that include hierarchy charts. Excel for the web may present a different ribbon and fewer chart-formatting controls, so use the desktop app if a particular formatting option is missing.

If Excel creates a chart that does not look hierarchical, first check that each category level has its own column and that the values are in the final column. A single category column with several numeric columns is more naturally interpreted as a chart with multiple series, not as a multi-level Sunburst hierarchy.

How to Read the Rings and Values

The rings communicate levels, not separate measures. The innermost category is the parent level; the outer rings show progressively more detailed descendants. A segment’s angular width indicates its share of the total represented by its parent. So a product can occupy a large share of its product group even if that group is a small share of all company sales.

That is why a Sunburst is useful for showing composition across several levels, but it is not always the best chart for comparing exact amounts. Two segments in different branches can be difficult to compare because their angles are based on different parent totals. A bar chart is often easier when the main question is which products have the highest sales, while a Sunburst is useful when the question is how the parts fit inside larger categories.

Also distinguish a segment’s share of its parent from its share of the whole. A child’s size is nested within the parent’s value; its visible angle should not be read as an independent percentage of the entire dataset without checking the hierarchy and chart’s labels.

Format Labels, Colors, and the Chart Title

Click the chart to show the chart tabs. On Windows, use Chart Design > Add Chart Element to add or adjust chart elements, and Chart Design > Change Colors to choose a different palette. To edit a chart title, select the title and type over it. On Mac, the chart tabs provide equivalent controls, although some commands may be arranged differently.

Labels are a frequent challenge because a chart with many small segments has little room for text. Select the chart, choose Chart Design > Add Chart Element > Data Labels, then use the label options available for the chart to control what is displayed. Depending on the version and available space, Excel may omit or crowd labels for small segments. Enlarging the chart or reducing the number of categories can make it more readable; shrinking the font indefinitely usually does not.

Use a short, descriptive title that explains the measure and category scope.
Choose a restrained color palette so neighboring sections can be distinguished without making every slice compete for attention.
Keep category names concise in the source data, but do not abbreviate them so much that the meaning becomes unclear.
Show the unit in the title or an adjacent note, for example Sales (USD), if viewers might otherwise mistake dollars for units or percentages.

Color is not a substitute for hierarchy. If two similar shades are hard to tell apart, make sure the labels or nearby explanation identify the category level. A chart that only works when readers can distinguish many subtle colors is likely too dense.

When a Multi-Ring Doughnut Is a Better Choice

Choose a doughnut chart when the rings represent distinct series that share a set of categories, rather than levels of one hierarchy. For example, a table with product categories in rows and sales for 2024, 2025, and 2026 in three columns could use a doughnut chart with one ring per year. Each ring answers the same category question for a different series.

To make one, select the category labels and the series columns, then choose Insert > Insert Pie or Doughnut Chart > Doughnut. If the rings or category labels are not arranged as intended, select the chart and use Chart Design > Switch Row/Column to change which data Excel treats as a series. This creates concentric series rings, not a true parent-child hierarchy.

For example, a Sunburst might show sales divided into Region, then Product group, then Product. A doughnut might show the same set of product categories for three different years. If you try to encode both hierarchy and time in one crowded chart, the rings can become ambiguous; separate charts or a small-multiple layout may communicate the comparison better.

Common Problems and How to Fix Them

A category is missing: Check for blank cells, inconsistent spellings, filters, or rows that were left outside the selected range. If the source is an Excel table, adding rows to that table can help keep the chart’s source range current.
Totals look too large: Remove subtotal rows if their amounts are already represented by detail rows. Sunburst aggregates the hierarchy, so a subtotal included as another data point can inflate the result.
The chart has too many tiny slices: Group low-volume items into a clearly named Other category in the source data, or chart a higher-level summary. Avoid collapsing unrelated categories if that would mislead readers.
Labels overlap or disappear: Make the chart larger, shorten labels, show fewer levels, or use a table alongside the chart. Excel cannot make every label legible when there are too many segments.
The hierarchy appears in the wrong order: Reorder the category columns so the broadest level comes first and the most detailed level comes immediately before the values column.
Some values do not appear as expected: Confirm that the values are numeric and use a consistent unit. Review zero, blank, or negative entries; they may not produce an informative visible segment in a part-to-whole chart.

One common misconception is that the innermost ring is always a separate grand-total series. In a Sunburst it represents the top level of the hierarchy, and the rings beyond it represent descendants. If the chart’s hierarchy is not clear from its labels and title, add a short explanation rather than assuming the visual alone will resolve the ambiguity.

Choosing the Right Chart for the Question

Use a Sunburst when readers need to explore how one total is divided across several nested categories. Use a doughnut chart when each ring is a separate series measured across the same categories. Use a standard pie or doughnut chart when there is only one category level and a simple part-to-whole view is sufficient. If the aim is precise ranking, change over time, or comparison between groups, consider a bar, column, or line chart instead.

A practical test is to ask what each ring means. If the answer is “a deeper category level,” choose Sunburst. If it is “another year, region, or other data series with the same categories,” a multi-series doughnut may fit. If that answer takes a long explanation, the data may be better shown in two charts or a table.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Excel have a nested pie chart option?
Excel does not generally label a chart type Nested Pie. Use Sunburst for a nested category hierarchy, or Doughnut for concentric rings representing multiple data series.

How do I add another ring to an Excel Sunburst chart?
Add another category-level column to the source data, place it between the existing category columns and the values column, and make sure each detail row has the relevant labels. The chart can then represent that additional hierarchy level.

Can a Sunburst chart show percentages?
It can display category labels and, depending on the version and label options, values or percentages. Check the available Data Labels settings for the chart. If percentage labels are not available in the desired form, calculate and present the percentages in a companion table rather than assuming every ring is a share of the grand total.

Why does my Sunburst chart show duplicate or inflated amounts?
The usual cause is including both parent subtotals and their detail rows. Keep the source to one set of leaf-level records so Excel can aggregate the hierarchy without counting the same amount twice.

Can I make a nested pie chart with different-sized rings?
A doughnut chart’s ring appearance can be adjusted through its formatting controls, including the doughnut hole size, but that does not change what the data means. For a hierarchy, use Sunburst and format it for readability rather than treating ring thickness as another measure.

Try it: the Percentage Formula Generator: percent of, percent change, increase and decrease, with the formula.

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Sources: Function behaviour and menu paths: Microsoft Support documentation for Excel. Method & sources

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