Bullseye Chart in Excel: How to Make One

Excel has no built-in chart type called a bullseye chart, but you can make one with concentric circles and a marker, or approximate the rings with a doughnut chart. For a quick target graphic, use Insert > Shapes > Oval; for a chart whose rings are organized as data series, use a doughnut chart and format its segments.

What a bullseye chart shows

A bullseye chart is a target-style visual: concentric circles represent zones, thresholds, or degrees of distance from a goal, while a dot or label identifies an actual result. It can make a single KPI easier to scan in a report or dashboard. For example, a sales result might be shown in a green inner zone if it is close to target, an amber middle zone if it is below target, and a red outer zone if it misses by more.

The circles do not have a universal meaning. Before building the visual, decide what the center means, what each ring means, and how a result maps to a position. In one design the center is the ideal result and distance from it means increasing deviation. In another, the center is a threshold and the bands represent categories. Label the zones so a reader does not have to guess.

A target graphic is not automatically a scale. Unless you define thresholds and map values to radii, a dot near the center does not reliably communicate a particular number. Use a conventional chart when readers need to compare exact values or see trends over time.

Choose a build method

For most one-off reports, overlapping circle shapes are the simplest method. They are quick to format, easy to label, and let you position a marker wherever it is needed. Their limitation is that changing a worksheet value will not automatically move the marker; you must update it yourself.

A doughnut chart is useful when the rings should be chart objects or when you want to organize them as series in a workbook. However, doughnut slices are proportions, not distance bands, and the chart does not automatically place an actual-value dot at a meaningful radius. It takes extra formatting, and it is not a substitute for a chart with a genuine numerical axis.

Use shapes for a presentation graphic or a small number of manually updated targets.
Use a doughnut chart when having chart-based rings matters more than linking the marker to a value.
Use a bar, line, scatter, or bullet-style chart when accurate numerical comparison is the main purpose.

Build concentric circles with shapes

These steps apply to Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows. The names of some ribbon controls can vary slightly between updates, but the shape tools are also available in Excel for Mac.

Choose an empty area of the worksheet, or use a separate dashboard sheet. Select Insert > Shapes > Oval.
Hold Shift while dragging to draw a perfect circle. Make the largest circle first; it will form the outside of the target.
With the circle selected, use Shape Format > Shape Fill to choose its color and Shape Format > Shape Outline > No Outline to remove the border.
Draw a smaller circle inside the first one, also holding Shift. Give it a different fill color. Repeat for each zone, drawing from largest to smallest so each new, opaque circle covers the center of the previous one.
Select all the circles. On the Shape Format tab, choose Align > Align Center, then Align > Align Middle. This lines up their centers and produces even rings. If the circles are not selected together, use Ctrl-click to add them to the selection.
Add a small oval for the result marker. Hold Shift to keep it round, choose a contrasting fill, and place it in the appropriate zone. Add labels with Insert > Text Box, or use nearby worksheet cells for explanations.

To change the apparent thickness of a band, adjust the size of the circles; equal spacing between circle edges is not required. If alignment or layering becomes difficult, use Home > Find & Select > Selection Pane to select individual shapes. When the graphic is finished, select its components and use Shape Format > Group > Group so they move together. Grouping keeps the parts together but does not link them to the KPI data.

Define zones and place the actual value

Use a real example to make the visual rule explicit. Suppose a target is 100 and the actual result is 94. If 100 is the ideal, the gap is 6 percent of target. With the target in B2 and actual in C2, enter =ABS(C2-B2)/B2 in D2. For those values, D2 returns 0.06, or 6% when formatted as a percentage. The formula calculates the relative difference; it does not position a shape automatically.

For instance, you might define a maximum acceptable deviation of 20%, with the center representing zero deviation and the outer edge representing 20%. A 6% deviation would then be 6 divided by 20, or 30% of the distance from the center to the outside edge. Put the marker about 30% of the way along a chosen radius. State the scale in a caption, such as Center = on target; outer edge = 20% deviation. If above-target and below-target results need different interpretations, distinguish them with labels, separate directions, or separate visuals; absolute deviation alone hides whether the result was high or low.

Choose the boundaries before assigning colors. A useful set might be 0–5% deviation, 5–10%, and over 10%, but those limits should come from the measure being reported rather than from a universal bullseye convention. Put the KPI name, actual value, target, and measurement period beside the graphic. A colored dot by itself is not enough context for a reader to interpret performance.

Make a doughnut-chart version

To create chart-based rings in Microsoft 365 for Windows, enter a small table with four series, one for each ring, and two value columns, such as Zone and Empty. Give every series values of 1 and 0. Select the table, then choose Insert > Insert Pie or Doughnut Chart > Doughnut. Excel plots each series as a ring; because each series has one nonzero value, its visible segment makes a complete circle.

Format the visible segment of each ring separately: click a ring, then click its segment again to select the individual data point, and use Format Data Point to set its fill. Set the chart area and plot area to transparent or to the page background as appropriate, and adjust the doughnut hole size in Format Data Series to control the center opening. The series order determines which ring is inside or outside; if the colors appear in the wrong order, reorder the series in the source table or through Select Data.

These 1-and-0 values are a construction trick, not measurements. If you instead use values such as 30 and 70, Excel will show a partial ring reflecting their proportion. That may suit a gauge-like visual, but it does not create a set of equal-thickness, labeled tolerance zones by itself. Add a marker as a shape or text box over the chart and remember that it will not move in response to a changed cell value. A doughnut chart is best understood as a formatted ring graphic, not as an automatic target-analysis tool.

Format the graphic for clear reading

Use a restrained color scheme and make the marker visually distinct from every zone. Color can reinforce meaning, but do not rely on color alone: label the bands, use text such as On target or Outside range, and check that the graphic still makes sense when printed in grayscale. Avoid gradients and 3-D effects, which can make ring boundaries and the marker harder to judge.

Keep circle sizes proportional and the center truly aligned. Place the marker in the middle of a band when the value is comfortably within that category; a dot on a boundary can look ambiguous. If a boundary value matters, explain whether it belongs to the upper or lower category. A short caption should state the direction of good performance, the target, and the period—for example, whether higher or lower values are desirable.

For accessibility, add a clear title and provide the same result in text or a nearby table. A reader using a screen reader or viewing a low-resolution printout should not have to infer the KPI solely from the shape and color.

Common problems and limitations

Circles look oval: the shape was drawn without holding Shift, or it was resized unevenly. Set equal height and width in the size controls, then realign the circles.
The rings are off-center: select all circle shapes and use Align Center and Align Middle. Check that the selected objects are the circles, not the marker or labels.
The marker seems precise but is not: shape placement is manual. If the value changes frequently, update the position deliberately or choose a data chart that can show the measure on an axis.
Colors imply a meaning the data does not support: define thresholds first and document them. Red, amber, and green are not automatically appropriate for every metric.
A ring slice has a gap or unexpected division: inspect the doughnut source values and point borders. For a full ring, each series should have one positive value and the other value set to zero, with no visible outline on the slice.

Also avoid comparing the apparent area of the rings as if it were a data quantity. The graphic is designed to show nested zones and a position, not to encode values through area. If precise comparison is important, include the actual number and a chart with a labeled scale.

Alternatives when a bullseye is not the best fit

A bullet-style chart is often clearer for one KPI against a target: it can show a bar for the actual value, a target marker, and qualitative performance bands along a numerical scale. A clustered bar chart works well when comparing actual and target across teams or months. A line chart is better for showing whether a KPI is improving over time. A scatter chart is appropriate when two numeric variables determine the position of a point.

Excel does not provide a dedicated built-in bullseye chart type in its standard chart gallery. Shapes or a formatted doughnut chart are practical ways to create the visual, but they do not make the graphic analytically equivalent to a scatter chart or a scale-based KPI chart. Pick the target appearance only when the relationship between the center, rings, and marker can be explained simply.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Excel have a bullseye chart template?
No. Excel for Microsoft 365 does not include a chart type named Bullseye. You can draw one with oval shapes or format a doughnut chart to create concentric rings.

How do I make perfect circles in Excel?
Choose Insert > Shapes > Oval and hold Shift while dragging. For existing circles, make their height and width equal, then select them and use Shape Format > Align to line up their centers.

Can a bullseye chart update automatically when a cell changes?
The circles and marker made with shapes do not automatically track a worksheet value. A doughnut chart can update its plotted series when source data changes, but a marker placed over it as a shape remains where you put it.

How do I show whether a value is above or below target?
Use a signed difference or label the direction explicitly. A bullseye based only on absolute distance shows how far the result is from target, not whether it is higher or lower.

What chart should I use instead for exact KPI comparisons?
Use a bar or bullet-style chart for actual-versus-target comparisons, a line chart for change over time, or a scatter chart when two numeric values define a point. These options provide more direct numerical interpretation than manually positioned rings.

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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