I still remember the first time I tried to explain a three-level product hierarchy using a regular pie chart. It was a mess — tiny slivers, overlapping labels, and a client who politely asked if I could “just show it differently.” That’s the day I fell in love with the sunburst chart. If you’ve ever needed to visualize hierarchical data — categories that break down into subcategories, which break down even further — a sunburst chart is one of the most elegant tools Excel has to offer, and in this guide I’ll walk you through exactly how I build one, step by step.
What Is a Sunburst Chart?
A sunburst chart is essentially a multi-level pie chart. Instead of one ring of slices, you get concentric rings radiating outward from a center point, with each ring representing a deeper level in your data hierarchy. The innermost ring shows the broadest categories, and each ring after that breaks those categories into smaller and smaller pieces. Think of it as a family tree that’s been bent into a circle.
I like to use sunburst charts when I want to show both the parts-to-whole relationship and the hierarchy at the same time — something a stacked bar chart or a regular pie chart simply can’t do as cleanly.
When Should You Use One?
In my experience, sunburst charts shine when:
- You’re showing organizational structures (departments, teams, sub-teams)
- You’re breaking down sales by region, then by country, then by product
- You’re visualizing folder structures or website navigation paths
- You have budget data that cascades from category to subcategory to line item
If your hierarchy only has one level, skip the sunburst and just use a pie chart — it’ll be far easier to read.
Required Data Structure
This is the part people get wrong most often, so let me be precise. Excel’s sunburst chart expects your data arranged in hierarchical columns, from broadest to most specific, followed by a value column. Here’s a simple example I often use when teaching this:
| Category | Subcategory | Item | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electronics | Phones | iPhone | 4500 |
| Electronics | Phones | Android | 3200 |
| Electronics | Laptops | MacBook | 5100 |
| Clothing | Men | Shirts | 2200 |
| Clothing | Women | Dresses | 3300 |
Notice how each row represents one path down the hierarchy, ending in a numeric value. Excel reads left to right and builds the rings accordingly. If a subcategory doesn’t apply, you can leave it blank, and Excel will treat that item as belonging directly to the level above.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s exactly how I do it:
- Organize your data in adjacent columns as shown above, with your hierarchy levels first and your numeric value last.
- Select the entire data range, including headers.
- Go to the Insert tab on the ribbon.
- In the Charts group, click the Insert Hierarchy Chart icon (it looks like a small set of nested shapes).
- Choose Sunburst from the dropdown menu.
- Excel will instantly generate your chart. From here, I usually click on the chart to activate the Chart Design and Format tabs for customization.
Formatting and Settings I Always Adjust
Once the base chart is in place, I never leave it as-is. A few tweaks I make every single time:
- Add data labels: Right-click any ring and choose “Add Data Labels” so viewers don’t have to guess what each segment represents.
- Color by category: Excel automatically colors by the outermost ring, but you can manually recolor segments under Format Data Point for better contrast.
- Adjust chart title: Double-click the default title and replace it with something descriptive, like “2026 Sales Breakdown by Category and Product.”
- Resize the chart: Sunburst charts need more room than standard charts because of the concentric rings — I usually make mine at least 500×500 pixels for readability.
A Practical Example
Let’s say I’m reporting on a company’s expense structure. My hierarchy is Department > Team > Expense Type > Amount. Once plotted, the innermost ring shows departments like Marketing, Sales, and Operations. The next ring breaks each department into its teams, and the outer ring shows individual expense categories like Travel, Software, or Salaries. In one glance, a stakeholder can see which department dominates spending and drill into exactly where that money goes — something a table of numbers just can’t communicate as fast.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
I’ve made most of these myself, so learn from my slip-ups:
- Skipping levels inconsistently: If one row skips the subcategory column and another doesn’t, Excel can misplace items in the hierarchy. Keep your structure consistent.
- Too many categories: A sunburst with 40+ tiny slices becomes unreadable. If you have that much granularity, consider filtering to the top 10 or grouping smaller items into “Other.”
- Ignoring blank cells: Truly blank cells (not zeros) are treated differently than a “0” value — make sure you know which one you actually want.
- Forgetting to sort data: Unsorted data can make rings look chaotic. I usually sort by the outermost category first, then by value within each group.
Troubleshooting Tips
If your chart isn’t building correctly, check these first:
- “Insert Hierarchy Chart” is greyed out: This usually means your Excel version doesn’t support sunburst charts (you need Excel 2016 or later, or Microsoft 365). Update if possible.
- Rings look uneven or wrong: Double-check that every row has data flowing correctly from the broadest to narrowest category — a stray blank cell in the middle of a row can break the hierarchy.
- Labels overlapping: Reduce the number of categories or increase the chart size. You can also switch data labels to show only category names without values if space is tight.
- Colors look random: Excel assigns colors automatically by category; if you need brand-consistent colors, you’ll have to manually edit each Format Data Point.
Real-World Use Cases
I’ve personally used sunburst charts for:
- Visualizing website navigation paths for a UX audit
- Presenting a nonprofit’s donation sources broken into funding type and campaign
- Mapping IT infrastructure by data center, server cluster, and individual machine
- Showing a college’s student population by faculty, department, and program
Each time, the sunburst chart did something a bar chart couldn’t — it let the audience see both the big picture and the granular detail without flipping between multiple charts.
Best Practices
To wrap up, here’s what I always keep in mind before finalizing a sunburst chart:
- Keep your hierarchy to three levels max for readability
- Always label your rings clearly, either with in-chart labels or a strong title
- Test the chart at the actual size it’ll be viewed — a chart that looks great full-screen can be unreadable in a small report
- Use consistent color families across the same top-level category so viewers can visually trace a path from center to edge
Once you get the hang of structuring your data correctly, building a sunburst chart in Excel becomes second nature. It’s one of those visuals that looks impressive but is genuinely simple to set up — you just need clean, hierarchical data and a few formatting tweaks to make it shine.