How to Make a Sankey Diagram in Excel

Creating a Sankey diagram in Excel is an excellent way to show how values flow between different stages of a process. Instead of struggling with complex chart types, this guide will walk you through the easiest methods to build a clean, clear Sankey diagram. We'll cover everything from simple add-ins for beginners to data preparation tips for more complex, multi-stage flows.

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What is a Sankey Diagram and When Should You Use One?

A Sankey diagram is a type of flow chart where the width of the arrows is proportional to the quantity of the flow. Think of it like visualizing water flowing through different pipes, a wider pipe means more water is passing through. This makes them perfect for showing how something is distributed or moves through a system.

While a standard bar chart can show you total website traffic, and a pie chart can show you the breakdown of that traffic by source, a Sankey diagram can do both - and show you where that traffic goes next. It excels at visualizing relationships within your data.

Here are a few common scenarios where a Sankey diagram is the best choice:

• Marketing Analytics: Visualize the customer journey across your website. Track users from their initial source (e.g., Google, Facebook, Email) to the first page they land on, followed by their path to conversion or drop-off.
• Sales Funnels: Show how leads move through your pipeline. You can illustrate the flow from "New Lead" sources to "Qualified," "Demo Booked," and finally to "Closed Won" or "Closed Lost."
• Budget &amp, Finance: Track how income is allocated. Your main income source can flow into categories like rent, savings, groceries, and entertainment, giving you a clear picture of your cash flow.
• Supply Chain Management: Follow products from different manufacturing plants to distribution centers and finally to retail locations.

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The Easiest Method: Using a Free Excel Add-In

Excel doesn't have a built-in, one-click Sankey chart option. While it's technically possible to build one from scratch using stacked bar charts and complex formulas, it's an incredibly time-consuming and frustrating process. For 99% of people, the best solution is to use a free, dedicated add-in.

We'll use a popular and trusted add-in from Microsoft called "Sankey Chart."

Step 1: Install the Add-In

First, you need to add the Sankey functionality to your Excel ribbon. It only takes a minute and you only have to do it once.

1. Navigate to the Insert tab on the Excel ribbon.
2. In the "Add-ins" section, click on Get Add-ins.
3. A window for the Office Add-ins store will appear. Use the search bar in the top-left corner and type "Sankey."
4. You'll see a few options. Find the one named "Sankey Chart" (it often has a green and blue icon) and click the Add button.
5. After agreeing to the terms, the add-in will be installed. You can now find it under Insert > My Add-ins.

Step 2: Prepare Your Data in Three Columns

This is the most important step. Sankey diagram add-ins require your data to be in a specific "long" format with three columns: Source, Destination, and Value.

• Source: This is where the flow begins.
• Destination: This is where the flow ends.
• Value (or Weight): This is the quantity of the flow.

Let’s use a website traffic example. We want to visualize how many sessions came from different channels and which landing page they went to. Our data should look like this:

Each row represents a specific flow. For instance, the first row shows that 5,200 sessions originated from "Organic Search" and arrived at the "Homepage." Enter this data into a new Excel sheet.

Step 3: Create the Sankey Diagram

With your data correctly formatted, creating the chart is simple:

1. Highlight the entire data table you just created, including the headers (Source, Destination, Value).
2. Go to the Insert tab and click the drop-down for My Add-ins.
3. Select Sankey Chart. A placeholder object will appear on your sheet, and after a moment, the add-in will load your chart.

The add-in automatically detects your three columns and generates the visual. You should now see a Sankey diagram showing your traffic sources on the left flowing to your landing pages on the right.

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Customizing Your Sankey Diagram

A basic chart is great, but a little customization makes it much easier to read and present. The Sankey Chart add-in offers a few simple but effective options. Click on the chart, and you'll see a small settings icon (a gear) in its top-right corner.

Clicking the gear icon opens a settings panel on the right, where you can modify:

• Colors: You can change the color of the nodes (the vertical bars for each item) and the links (the flows between the nodes). This is useful for grouping related items or highlighting a specific path.
• Labels: Adjust the text settings, such as font size and color, to improve readability.
• Layout: Fine-tune the spacing between nodes and the overall layout. Sometimes, adjusting the "Node Width" or "Node Padding" can make a cluttered chart much cleaner.

Feel free to experiment with these settings until the chart clearly communicates the story in your data.

Handling a Multi-Stage Flow

What if your process has more than two steps? For example, you want to track website visitors from their Source to a Landing Page, and then to a final Conversion action. This is a common challenge, but the solution involves reorganizing your data.

The three-column format of Source, Destination, Value still applies. You just need to create rows for each distinct "leg" of the journey.

Imagine this simplified user flow:

• Organic Search sent 2,000 users to the Homepage.
• Paid Social sent 1,000 users to the Services Page.
• Of the users on the Homepage, 800 clicked through to the Contact Form.
• Of the users on the Services Page, 400 clicked through to the Contact Form.

To prepare this for a Sankey diagram, you would structure your data table like this:

When you feed this table into the Sankey add-in, it intelligently connects the stages. It understands that "Homepage" is a destination in the first row but a source in the third row, correctly rendering the middle stage of the flow. This structure allows you to build out complex, multi-step diagrams that truly capture the entire journey.

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Tips for More Effective Sankey Diagrams

Once you've mastered the basics, keep these design principles in mind to create professional and impactful visuals.

1. Keep It Clean: The biggest weakness of a Sankey diagram is clutter. If you have too many nodes or thin flows, it can become impossible to read. Focus on visualizing the most significant flows and group smaller categories into an "Other" category if necessary. Less is often more.
2. Use Color Strategically: Don't just pick colors at random. Use color to tell a story. Assign one color to all sources related to paid channels and another for organic channels. Or, use a warning color like gray or red for negative outcomes, such as customer churn or drop-off points in a funnel.
3. Order Your Nodes: For a cleaner look, arrange the nodes in each column in descending order of value. Having the largest flow at the top makes the chart intuitive and easier to scan. You can do this by sorting your source data table in Excel before generating the chart.
4. Add Context: Your chart needs a clear title, and you should specify the units being measured (e.g., "Monthly Website Sessions," "Q3 Sales Pipeline in USD"). Without context, your audience won't know how to interpret the diagram.

Final Thoughts

Sankey diagrams are a powerful tool for transforming complex flow data into a clear, compelling story. Although Excel lacks a native feature, using free add-ins makes the process straightforward for anyone. The real key is mastering how to structure your source, destination, and value data to accurately reflect the journey you want to visualize.

This process of downloading CSVs, cleaning the data, and manually shaping it for a specific chart can still take time away from finding the actual insights. We built Graphed because we wanted to eliminate that friction. We connect directly to your tools like Google Analytics, Salesforce, and Shopify, so you can just ask questions in plain English - like "show the flow of users from Facebook ads to purchase this month" - and get a live, interactive visualization in seconds, no data prep required.