How to Make a Pie Chart in Google Sheets with AI

Instantly turning your spreadsheet data into a clear visual like a pie chart used to take a few clicks, but Google Sheets’ built-in AI can now do it for you in seconds. This guide will walk you through exactly how to use the AI-powered 'Explore' feature to create a pie chart automatically. We'll also cover how to build one manually for more control and share simple tips to make your pie charts easy to understand.

What Exactly Is a Pie Chart?

A pie chart is a circular graph that's "sliced" into sections to show proportions. Think of a pizza. Each slice represents a category, and the size of the slice shows how much that category contributes to the whole pie. It's one of the simplest and most effective ways to visualize parts of a whole, making it instantly clear how different segments stack up against each other.

Pie charts are perfect for answering questions like:

• What percentage of our website traffic comes from each marketing channel?

• How much of our total sales did each product line generate last quarter?

• What's the demographic breakdown of our survey respondents?

If you have numerical data that adds up to a meaningful total (like 100% of a budget or 100% of website sessions), a pie chart is your best friend for showing how that total is divided.

When to Use a Pie Chart (and When to Choose a Different One)

Before you build your chart, it helps to know when a pie chart is the right choice. Following these simple guidelines ensures your data story is clear and not confusing.

Use a Pie Chart When:

• You're showing parts of a whole. This is the golden rule. Your slices must represent categories that combine to make a total. For example, the distribution of regional sales (North, South, East, West) which together make up your total company sales.

• You have a limited number of categories. Pie charts work best with six or fewer slices. More than that, and it becomes a cluttered mess where it's impossible to compare slice sizes.

• You want to emphasize proportions. The goal is to see which category is the biggest part of the pie and which are just small slivers.

Avoid a Pie Chart When:

• You're tracking changes over time. If you want to show your website traffic growth over the past 12 months, a line chart is much more effective. A pie chart doesn't display trends well.

• You're comparing categories that aren't parts of a whole. If you want to compare the revenue of five different, unrelated companies, a bar chart is the way to go. Each bar stands on its own.

• You have many small categories. A bar chart is far better at displaying lots of categories cleanly. Trying to squeeze 10+ values into a pie chart makes it unreadable.

Method 1: Make a Pie Chart with AI in Google Sheets (Explore Feature)

Google has been adding smart features to its products, and Google Sheets is no exception. The "Explore" feature is like having a helpful data assistant built right into your spreadsheet. It analyzes your data and automatically suggests insights and charts without you having to lift a finger. Here’s how to use it.

Step-by-Step AI Guide

1. Organize Your Data Properly

Like any assistant, the Explore AI needs clear instructions. This means your data should be clean and simple. For a pie chart, the ideal format is two columns:

• Column A: The Labels. These are the names of your categories (e.g., Traffic Source, Product Name, Ad Campaign).

• Column B: The Values. These are the numbers corresponding to each category (e.g., Sessions, Units Sold, Clicks).

Make sure to include headers at the top of each column. Don't leave blank rows or columns in your data set. Here’s a perfect example:

2. Let AI Analyze Your Data

Now, select all the data you just organized, including the two header cells. With the data highlighted, find the 'Explore' icon in the bottom-right corner of your screen. It looks like a small box with a plus sign or starburst in it.

Click on it. A new panel will slide out from the right side of your screen.

3. Review the AI-Suggested Charts

The Explore panel automatically analyzes your selected data. Under the "Answers" section, you'll see a few automatically generated charts that Google thinks are relevant. If your data is structured as parts of a whole, it will very likely suggest a pie chart.

From here, you have two options:

• Click the chart-insert icon to add it directly to your sheet.

• Click and drag the chart from the Explore panel and drop it anywhere you want on your spreadsheet.

That's it! In two clicks, the AI has generated a perfectly usable pie chart for you.

4. Ask a Question in Plain English

What if the Explore panel doesn't suggest a pie chart? No problem. The panel also has a search bar where you can "Ask a question about this data." You can type exactly what you want it to make.

For our example data, you could type things like:

• "pie chart of sessions by traffic source"

• "chart showing the distribution of sessions"

• "breakdown of traffic source"

You don't need to be hyper-technical. Just describe what you want to see. The AI will understand your request and generate a pie chart on the fly.

Method 2: How to Create a Pie Chart Manually

While the AI method is incredibly fast, sometimes you want more direct control, or maybe you just prefer the traditional workflow. The manual method is just as effective and gives you access to the full customization menu right away.

A Simple Step-by-Step Guide

1. Select Your Data Range

Just like with the AI method, start by highlighting the cells that contain your category labels and your numerical values, including the headers.

2. Go to Insert > Chart

With your data selected, click on the 'Insert' menu in the top navigation bar, then select 'Chart' from the dropdown menu.

Google Sheets will automatically insert a chart onto your sheet and open the Chart editor on the right. Google is pretty smart about guessing the best chart type, so it will often create a pie chart for you if the data fits.

3. Choose 'Pie chart' From the Chart Editor

If Google Sheets didn’t default to a pie chart, you'll need to select it yourself. In the Chart editor, look for the 'Setup' tab. The very first option will be 'Chart type'. Click on the dropdown menu and scroll down to the 'Pie' section. You can choose a standard Pie chart, a Doughnut chart (a pie chart with a hole in the middle), or a 3D pie chart.

How to Customize Your Google Sheets Pie Chart

Creating the chart is only half the battle. A good pie chart is one that's easy to read and tells a clear story. The Chart editor is your hub for making your chart look professional and easy to understand. To open it, just double-click on your chart at any time.

Key Customizations for Readability

Switch over to the 'Customize' tab in the Chart editor to start making changes. Here are the most useful settings to adjust:

1. Chart style

This section lets you modify the overall look of your chart. You can:

• Background color: Change the background if your chart is going on a colored slide or report. Usually, white or transparent is best.

• Font: Adjust the font to match the rest of your document for consistency.

• Chart border color: Add a subtle border to make the chart feel contained.

• Maximum mode: This removes extra whitespace for a more compact chart if you're tight on space.

2. Pie chart

This is where you make adjustments to the pie itself.

• Doughnut hole: Want to create a doughnut chart? Add a percentage here — 25% or 50% often looks good.

• Border color: Adding a white or light gray border between your slices makes them easier to distinguish visually.

• Slice label: This is a crucial one. You can choose to have your chart display the percentages, the raw values, or just the category labels on each slice. Displaying percentages directly on the slices makes the chart much faster to understand.

3. Pie slice

If you need to change the colors, this is the place to do it. You can select an individual slice (like 'Organic Search') from the dropdown and assign it a specific color. This is great for matching your brand colors or highlighting the most important slice with a bold color.

4. Chart & axis titles

Never rely on a default title. Your chart title should clearly explain what the viewer is looking at. Instead of ‘Sessions,’ a better title would be 'Q4 Website Traffic by Source'. Be specific. You can also edit the font size and color of the title to make it stand out.

5. Legend

The legend explains what each color stands for. You can change its position (top, bottom, right, or left) to best fit your report layout. Sometimes, if you've already labeled your slices with percentages and categories, you might not even need a legend at all! In that case, you can set the position to "None" to save space.

Final Thoughts

Making a pie chart in Google Sheets is simpler than ever, whether you use the quick AI-powered Explore feature or the manual method for more control. By organizing your data correctly and following a few design best practices, you can create clear, insightful visuals in just a minute or two.

If you spend a lot of time creating charts not just in Google Sheets but across different platforms, you know how repetitive it can get. We built Graphed to take that off your plate entirely. You can connect sources like Google Analytics, Shopify, and your campaign platforms, and just ask our AI analyst to build entire dashboards with the charts you need in seconds, all updated in real-time. No more manually building reports week after week.