Rotate Pie Chart in Excel

Excel Rotate Pie Chart

To rotate a pie chart in excel, first, the user needs to create a pie chart using the data. It is best suited in different to effectively display a large number of tiny pie chart slices and proper layout tuning of the label to enhance slice visualization. The slices can be separated with space to easily differentiate them. Rotating supports in avoiding the overlap of labels and chart title and facilitating the considerable amount of empty area on each data label.

To rotate the pie chart in excel, we have several options. Those include

• Changing the first slice angle presented in the series options.
• Using the camera tool commands from the quick access toolbar.

The use of these options helps in applying the rotation on the pie chart in Excel.

How to Rotate Pie Chart in Excel?

Example #1 – 2D Rotate Pie Chart

The creation of 2D rotates a pie chart on the diameter of nine planets in the solar system.

Step 1: Open the Excel worksheet.

Step 2: Enter the data regarding the diameter of nine planets in the table format as shown in the below-mentioned figure.

Step  3: Select the data by pressing CTRL+A by placing the cursor anywhere in the table or select through the mouse.

Step 4: Go to the “insert” tab on the ribbon. Move the cursor to the chart area to select the pie chart.

Step 5: Click on the Pie chart and select the 2D chart as shown in the figure and develop a 2D pie chart.

Step 6: We get the following 2D Rotate Pie Chart.

Step 7: In the next step, change the title of the chart and add data labels to it.

Step 8: To rotate the pie chart, click on the chart area.

Step 9: Right-click on the pie chart and select the “format data series” option.

This opens the “format data series” panel as shown in the figure.

Step 10: Change the angle of the first scale to 90 degrees to display properly the chart.

Now the pie chart is looking good representing clearly the small slices.

Example #2 – 3D Rotate Pie Chart

Creation of 3D rotate pie chart on the population of various states in India

Step 1: Open the Excel worksheet.

Step 2: Enter the data regarding the population of the Indian states in the table format in excel as shown in the below mentioned figure.

Step 3: Select the data by pressing CTRL+A by placing the cursor anywhere in the table or select through the mouse.

Step 4: Go to the “insert” tab on the ribbon. Move the cursor to the chart area to select the pie chart.

Step 5: Click on Pie chart and select the 3D chart as shown in the figure and develop a 3D pie chart.

Step 6: In the next step, change the title of the chart and add data labels to it.

Then, the chart will look like as

Step 7: To rotate the pie chart, click on the chart area. Right-click on the pie chart and select the “format data series” option.

This opens the “format data series” pane as shown in the figure.

Step 8: Change the angle of the first scale to 90 degrees to display properly the chart.

Step 9: We get the following Rotate Pie Chart.

Example #3 – Doughnut Rotate Pie Chart

Creation of rotate pie chart for the doughnut chart in excel.

Step 1: Open the Excel worksheet. Enter the data regarding the sales made by a company in two years in different regions in the table format as shown in the below-mentioned figure.

Step 2: Select the data by pressing CTRL+A by placing the cursor anywhere in the table or select through the mouse.

Step 3: Go to the “insert” tab on the ribbon. Move the cursor to chart area to select the pie chart

Step 4: Click on the Pie chart and select the Doughnut chart as shown in the figure and develop the Doughnut pie chart.

Step 5: In the next step, change the title of the chart and select the layout 6 under the “quick layout” option to change the chart.

Step 6: To rotate the pie chart, click on the chart area. Right-click on the pie chart and select the “format data series” option.

This opens the “format data series” pane as shown in the figure.

Step 7: Change the angle of the first scale to 150 degrees and change to display properly the chart.

Step 8: We get the following doughnut to rotate the pie chart.

How to Use Rotate Pie Chart in Excel?

Rotate pie chart has many applications. Those include

• Changing the orientation of the worksheet to ensure that the proper fit of the pie chart at the time of printing.
• Modifying the location of the legend in the pie chart.
• Reversing or changing the order of the slices in the pie chart.
• Moving the individual labels of the pie chart.
• Rotating the pie chart in various degrees including 90⁰, 180⁰, 270⁰, and 360⁰ in the clockwise and anti-clockwise direction.
• Formatting the data series on the context menu of the pie chart.
• Utilization of the camera tool effectively to apply the rotation on the chart from various angles.

Things to Remember

• Starting the rotation of the pie chart with 90⁰ degrees is a good option.
• With the use of the camera tool in rotating the pie chart results in decreasing the resolution and changing the appearance of the object.
• The practice of start displaying the small parts of the pie chart at 12’o clock is not good.
• The doughnut pie chart is useful when two data series are presented.

Recommended Articles

This has been a guide to rotate the pie chart in excel. Here we discuss how to rotate the 2D, 3D, and Doughnut pie chart in excel with examples and a downloadable template. You can learn more about excel functions from the following articles –

• How to Create Excel Panel Chart?
• Step Chart in Excel
• Dot Plots in Excel
• Excel Combo Chart