Add Labels with Lines in an Excel Pie Chart (with Easy Steps)

When creating a pie chart in Microsoft Excel, you may want to add labels with lines to indicate each slice. If you have a lot of data in your Excel pie chart, you can use labels with lines to help make it easier to read. This can be especially helpful if the data is spread out over a large number of slices. Therefore, in this article, I will teach you how to add labels with lines in an Excel pie chart with some easy steps.

What Is a Pie Chart?

A Pie Chart is a circular graph that is divided into sectors that each represent a proportion of the whole. Each portion’s area is equal to the quantity it stands for.

Pie charts are useful for displaying data that are classified into nominal or ordinal categories. For example, a pie chart could be used to show the different flavors of ice cream that are sold in a store.

I will use the following dataset to show you how to add labels with lines in an Excel pie chart. The dataset is a list of crude oil exports by country. In the Country column, there is a list of oil exporting counties and in the Percentage column, their export quantity is in percentage.

Step-1: Inserting a Pie Chart

Before adding labels to the pie chart, you need to generate a pie chart first.

To generate a pie chart using a dataset,

❶ Select the entire dataset first.

❷ After that go to the Insert tab.

❸ From the Charts group, click on the Insert Pie or Doughnut Chart drop-down menu.

❹ Now choose the 3-D Pie option (2-D Pie also can be used, if you prefer or need that).

After selecting the 3-D Pie command, you will see the following pie chart has been generated.

Step-2: Enabling Data Labels From Chart Elements Button

By default, the pie chart will have no data labels in it. You need to enable the data labels manually.

To enables the data labels on the pie chart,

❶ Click on the Pie Chart first.

❷ Then click on the plus icon at the top-right corner of the pie chart.

❸ Now select Data Labels in the Chart Elements list.

After that, you will see a variety of data labels position option such as,

Center
Inside End
Outside End
Best Fit
Data callout

❹ Select any one of these options.

I’m selecting the Outside End option.

Read More: How to Edit Pie Chart in Excel

Step-3: Adding Labels with Lines in Excel Pie Chart

To enable the lines of the data labels,

❶ Click on any one of the data labels to select.

❷ Right-click on the data label.

❸ From the context menu, choose Format Data Labels.

❹ Now select Show Leader Lines in the Format Data Labels dialog box.

❺ Now manually select each of the data labels and then reposition them by dragging them away from the pie chart.

After dragging away all the data labels, you will see the data labels are connected with leader lines like the following screenshot.

Advantages of Using Pie Charts

The advantages of using pie charts include:

Easy to understand and interpret.
Take up less space than other types of graphs.
Can be used to compare data from different categories.

Disadvantages of Using Pie Charts

The disadvantages of using pie charts include:

Can be difficult to compare data if the categories are not of equal size.
Can be misleading if the data is not represented accurately.

Download Practice Workbook

Add Labels with Lines in Pie Charts.xlsx

Conclusion

To sum up, we have discussed steps to add labels with lines in an Excel Pie Chart. Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions in the comment section below. We will try to respond to all the relevant queries ASAP. And please visit our website Exceldemy to explore more.

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