By Jenefey Aaron

Updated on 2025-04-22

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How to Make a Stacked Bar Chart in Excel: Quick Beginner Guide

By Jenefey Aaron

2025-04-22 / Knowledge

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Stacked bar charts in Excel are powerful tools for visualizing data, allowing you to compare parts of a whole across different categories. Whether you're tracking sales figures, survey results, or project timelines, mastering stacked bar charts can enhance your data presentations. This guide will tell you how to make stacked bar chart Excel, ensuring your data tells a compelling story.

Part 1. What is a Stacked Bar Chart in Excel

Part 2. How to Make a Stacked Bar Chart in Excel

Part 3. How to Customize Excel Stacked Bar Charts for Clarity

Part 4. Advanced Tips for MultiVariable Stacked Charts

Part 5. Save & Share Excel with Stacked Chart as PDF

Part 6. FAQs of Excel Stacked Bar Chart

Part 1. What is a Stacked Bar Chart in Excel

A stacked bar chart displays multiple data series stacked horizontally, showing the total and the contribution of each part. Each bar represents a category, and segments within the bar represent subcategories. This format is ideal for comparing the composition of different groups side by side.

Key Benefits:

Visualize parttowhole relationships across categories.
Compare multiple data series simultaneously.
Identify trends and patterns in complex data sets.

When creating stacked bar charts, you might often need to handle a lot of data and tables, especially when working with information from PDF documents. Extracting or editing content from PDFs can be a hassle. Tools like Tenorshare PDNob can help you quickly and easily extract and edit data from PDFs, making your tasks more efficient.

Part 2. How to Make a Stacked Bar Chart in Excel

Stacked bar charts are invaluable for visualizing how individual components contribute to a whole across different categories. Whether you're analyzing sales data, survey results, or project timelines, creating a stacked bar chart in Excel can provide clear insights. Let's walk through the steps to create one effectively.

1.Data Preparation

Before you start, make sure your data is structured correctly. Here are a few tips:

Horizontal Data: Your data should be arranged horizontally with categories and subcategories. For example:

Please swipe to view

Quarter

Product A

Product B

Product C

200

150

100

240

120

140

300

200

180

280

220

130

Pivot Tables: If your data is not in this format, consider using a Pivot Table to rearrange it. "You can go from what you have to what you need by choosing your range > Insert > Pivot Table".

2.Creating the Stacked Bar Chart

Select Your Data: Highlight the range of cells containing your data, including the headers.
Insert Chart: Go to the "Insert" tab on the Excel ribbon and select "Stacked Bar" or "Stacked Column" chart from the 2D Bar or 2D Column chart options. "Insert Chart > Bar Chart > Stacked Bar".

3.Customizing the Chart

Adjust Series and Categories:

If your categories are not grouped correctly, you might need to adjust the series and category settings ". The only thing that changes when I select Category in the legend is the 'Name: =Sheet1!$A$1'".
Ensure that the subcategories are correctly stacked within each category.

Add Data Labels:

To add data labels, click on the "+" icon next to the chart, check the "Data Labels" box, and then select "More Options" to customize the labels. "Select each series in turn, click the plus icon floating next to the chart, click the right marker next to Data Labels, and choose More Options".
You can include both the value and percentage in the data labels if needed. "The formula in F2 is =B2&" ("&TEXT(D2,"0%")&")".

Format the Chart:

You can change the color, fill patterns, and other visual aspects of the chart to match your preferences. "Format to use same color fill, but then set it to use a Pattern fill like hatches or diagonal lines".
To add additional details like arrows or specific markers, you might need to use a combination of chart types or custom formatting. "Use a mixed chart of stacked bar and line. Make the line values equal to the total of the stack".

Part 3. How to Customize Excel Stacked Bar Charts for Clarity

Customizing your stacked bar chart enhances its readability and effectiveness.

1. Use Distinct Colors

Assign contrasting colors to different data series to distinguish them easily. Consistent color schemes help viewers quickly interpret the chart.

2. Implement Data Labels

Adding data labels provides exact values for each segment, making the chart more informative.

3. Adjust Bar Spacing

Modify the gap width between bars to prevent overcrowding and improve visual balance.

4. Incorporate Tooltips

Enable tooltips to display additional information when hovering over chart elements, offering more context without cluttering the chart.

5. Apply Conditional Formatting

Use conditional formatting to highlight specific data points or trends, drawing attention to critical information.

Part 4. Advanced Tips for MultiVariable Stacked Charts

Handling multiple variables in a stacked bar chart can be challenging. Here are some advanced techniques:

1. Create a 100% Stacked Bar Chart

This chart type shows the percentage contribution of each subcategory to the total, emphasizing proportional relationships.

2. Combine with Line Charts

Overlay a line chart on your stacked bar chart to display additional metrics, such as trends or averages.

3. Use Secondary Axes

When dealing with different units or scales, adding a secondary axis can help represent multiple variables accurately.

4. Implement Interactive Elements

Incorporate slicers or filters to allow users to interact with the chart, focusing on specific data subsets.

5. Leverage PivotTables

Use PivotTables to manage and organize complex data before creating your stacked bar chart, ensuring accuracy and flexibility.

Part 5. Save & Share Excel with Stacked Chart as PDF

After crafting your stacked bar chart in Excel, the next step is sharing it effectively. While Excel allows you to save your work as a PDF, this method often lacks flexibility—especially when you need to annotate, compress, or collaborate on the document. This is where Tenorshare PDNob comes into play. It's designed to simplify your workflow, offering tools that go beyond basic PDF saving.

PDNob PDF Editor is more than just a PDF viewer; it's a comprehensive solution for managing and enhancing your documents. Whether you're preparing reports, sharing data visualizations, or collaborating with a team, PDNob provides the features you need to make your PDFs more interactive and professional.

Key Features of Tenorshare PDNob PDF Editor:

AI-Powered Summarization: Quickly extract key points from lengthy PDFs.
Accurate OCR: Convert scanned documents into editable text.
Format Conversions: Transform PDFs into Word, Excel, PPT, and more.
Comprehensive Editing Tools: Modify text, images, watermarks, and backgrounds.
Extensive Annotation Options: Add highlights, comments, shapes, and stamps.
Batch Processing: Handle multiple files simultaneously for increased efficiency.

How to Save Excel with Stacked Chart as PDF

Open PDNob PDF Editor, then load Excel file by clicking “Create PDF>From File”.

create pdf via pdnob pdf editor software

On the tool bar, click Convert.

Within the popup window, specify the page range and choose your preferred PDF format. Subsequently, initiate the conversion by clicking the Convert button. Your Excel will be converted to PDF format instantly.

Part 6. FAQs of Excel Stacked Bar Chart

Q1: How to make a stacked bar chart in Excel with multiple data series?

Arrange your data with categories in the first column and series in subsequent columns. Then, insert a stacked bar chart as usual.

Q2: How to create a vertical stacked bar chart in Excel?

Use the Stacked Column chart option under the Insert tab to create vertical stacked bars.

Q3: How to make a stacked bar graph in Excel with two variables?

Structure your data with one variable as categories and the other as series. Insert a stacked bar chart to visualize both variables.

Q4: How to create a 100% stacked bar chart in Excel?

Select your data, insert a stacked bar chart, then change the chart type to 100% Stacked Bar under Chart Design > Change Chart Type.

Conclusion

Mastering stacked bar charts in Excel empowers you to present complex data clearly and effectively. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can create, customize, and share insightful charts that enhance your data storytelling. Remember to utilize tools like Tenorshare PDNob to streamline your workflow and elevate your presentations.

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