Create and use doughnut charts in Power BI

APPLIES TO: Power BI Desktop Power BI service

A doughnut chart is similar to a pie chart in that it shows the relationship of parts to a whole. The only difference is that the center is blank and allows space for a label or icon.

Doughnut charts work best when you use them to compare a particular section to the whole, rather than comparing individual sections with each other.

Prerequisites

Sharing your report with a Power BI colleague requires that you both have licenses for the paid version of Power BI or that the report is saved in Premium capacity.

Get the sample

To follow along, download the Retail Analysis sample .pbix file in Power BI Desktop or the Power BI service.

Power BI Desktop

This tutorial uses the Retail Analysis Sample PBIX file.

1. At the top left, select File > Open report.

2. Find your copy of the Retail Analysis Sample PBIX file, and select Open.

   The Retail Analysis Sample PBIX file opens in report view.

3. At the bottom, select the green plus symbol to add a new page to the report.

Power BI service

This tutorial uses the built-in Retail Analysis Sample in the Power BI service.

1. Sign in to the Power BI service (app.powerbi.com).

2. Select Learn in the left navigation.

3. On the Learning center page, under Sample reports, locate the Retail Analysis Sample. Select the sample to download.

   The Retail Analysis Sample opens in report view.

   

4. At the top, select Edit to open the Report editor.

   

5. At the bottom, select the green plus symbol to add a new page to the report.

Create a doughnut chart

Follow these steps to create a doughnut chart.

1. Start on a blank report page and from the Data pane, select Sales, then select the Last Year Sales checkbox.

2. On the Visualizations pane, select the icon for doughnut chart to convert your bar chart to a doughnut chart. If Last Year Sales isn't in the Values section of the Visualizations pane, drag it there.

   

3. Select Item > Category to add it to the Legend area of the Visualizations pane.

   

4. To see details within each section of a doughnut chart, add a category to the Details field.

   

5. Optionally, adjust the size and color of the chart's text.

Considerations and troubleshooting

Here are a few things to consider as you work with doughnut charts.

• The sum of the doughnut chart values must add up to 100%.
• Too many categories create small slices in the chart. Small slices can be difficult to read and interpret.

Related content

• Funnel charts in Power BI

• Visualization types in Power BI