How to Build an Easy Pie Chart for Google Docs

Use pie charts in presentations and handouts.

A pie chart provides your audience with a simple, easy-to-understand breakdown of the information contained in a data set. Each section in a pie chart shows the importance of an element in the data in relation to the other elements. If you create and maintain spreadsheet documents using the online Google Docs application, use a Google Gadget to build a pie chart out of the data in the spreadsheet.

Instructions

1. Navigate to Docs.Google.com. Click "Create New" and select "Spreadsheet."

2. Type the data that you want to include in the pie chart into the cells in columns "A" and "B." Use column "A" for the names of the pie chart sections; type the percentage for each section into the relevant cell in column "B." Click and drag on the spreadsheet to select all of the cells, or press "Ctrl" and "A" simultaneously to select the entire spreadsheet.

3. Click the "Insert" menu, then click "Gadgets." Click "Charts" in the left-hand column, then click the "Add to Spreadsheet" button underneath "Pie Chart."

4. Type a name for the pie chart into the "Title" text box. If you want to add a 3-D visual effect to the pie chart, check the box next to "3D."

5. Click "Apply & Close." Google Docs creates a pie chart and inserts it into the spreadsheet.

Tips & Warnings

• If you change the data in the spreadsheet, Google Docs automatically updates the pie chart.

References

• Google Docs: Pie Chart

Resources

• Google Docs: Home