Doughnut Chart Maker
A doughnut chart with the total shown in the centre - free, no signup.
What this tool does
Paste your data as label, value pairs - one per line - and this draws a doughnut chart: a pie chart with the centre cut out, showing the grand total in the space that creates. It reads a straight paste from a spreadsheet, reports anything it could not read, lets you sort, group small slices together, pull one out for emphasis, and export as PNG or SVG.
Draws a doughnut chart from data you paste, type or load from a CSV file, with percentages on each segment and the total shown in the centre hole.
Offers the same grouping, sorting and slice-pulling options as a full pie chart, since a doughnut is the same chart with the middle removed.
Exports as PNG for slides and documents or SVG for further editing, and separately downloads the parsed data back out as a tidy CSV.
Detects tabs, commas or semicolons in a spreadsheet paste automatically and skips a header row if it finds one, reporting any line it could not read rather than dropping it silently.
How to use it
- Enter your data one line at a time as label, value - or paste a range straight out of a spreadsheet.
- The donut style is already switched on; turn it off if you'd rather see a plain pie chart.
- Sort segments largest first or group small ones into 'Other' if needed, then export as PNG or SVG.
Why use this chart maker
A doughnut chart shows shares of a whole with the total in the centre, a cleaner look for dashboards and slides.
Why we built it
We built the doughnut chart maker to show the grand total in the centre automatically. Compare with the pie chart maker and the bar chart maker.
For a neighbouring job there is also the Pyramid Chart Maker.
Who this tool is for
- Presenters and reporters showing shares
- Small businesses in dashboards
- Students
When to use it
- Budget or survey summaries.
- Dashboards and reports.
- Showing a total with its parts.
- Presentations.
Doughnut vs pie: the same chart, one difference
The hole is decorative - the maths underneath is identical.
A doughnut chart and a pie chart show exactly the same thing - each segment's share of a whole - the only difference is the hole cut into the centre. That hole is useful for one practical reason: it gives you somewhere to display the grand total without it competing visually with the segments, which is why this tool shows the total there automatically. Beyond that, every consideration that applies to a pie chart applies here too, including the same caution about too many thin slices making the chart hard to read.
When the total in the middle is worth having
If the grand total is a meaningful number in its own right - total revenue, total votes cast, total hours in a day - showing it in the centre saves the reader from having to add up the segments themselves. If the total isn't particularly meaningful (say, percentages that are inherently out of 100 anyway), a plain pie chart without the extra visual step of a hole may communicate just as well with slightly less complexity.
When a doughnut - or a pie - is the wrong chart entirely
Parts of a whole, with only a few parts.
A doughnut or pie chart only works when the segments genuinely represent parts of one whole and there are few enough of them to compare by eye - human vision is reliably worse at judging small differences between angles than between bar lengths, so once a chart has more than about five or six thin slices, a bar chart of the same data almost always communicates it faster and more accurately. If the real question is comparing categories against each other rather than showing their share of a total, reach for the bar chart maker instead - the grouping option here for slices under 3% exists precisely to keep a long tail from turning into unreadable slivers.
What you give it, and what you get back
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Input | Label and value lines, or a CSV. |
| Options | Group small slices, sort and pull a slice out. |
| Output | A doughnut with percentages and the total in the centre. |
Issues you may run into
| What you see | Why it happens | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A slice is excluded | Zero or negative values cannot be drawn. | Use positive values. |
| Too many thin slices | More than about eight to ten. | Use the grouping option. |
| A row is skipped | It does not match the expected format. | Check the message listing unreadable lines and fix them. |
Assumptions and limitations
- This shares every limitation of a pie chart: a segment must be a positive value, and more than about eight to ten thin slices become hard to read - use the grouping option to combine small ones.
- The centre total is the sum of whatever's currently displayed - if you group small slices into 'Other' or exclude anything, the total reflects that, not necessarily every row in your original data.
- The chart is drawn as SVG and exported to PNG at a fixed resolution suited to slides and documents, not large-format print.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make a doughnut chart online for free?
Paste your data as label, value pairs - one per line, or straight out of a spreadsheet - and the chart draws instantly with the donut style already on. Download it as a PNG or SVG when you're happy with it.
What is the difference between a doughnut chart and a pie chart?
None, mathematically - a doughnut chart is a pie chart with the centre removed. The hole is typically used to display the grand total, which is what this tool does automatically.
Why does the doughnut chart show a total in the middle?
Because the hole created by the doughnut style is otherwise empty space, and the grand total is usually the most useful thing to put there - it saves the reader from adding up every segment by hand.
Can I turn a doughnut chart back into a plain pie chart?
Yes - untick the donut style option and the same chart redraws as a solid pie, using the exact same data, sorting and grouping settings.
Can I download the chart as an image?
Yes - PNG for a slide, document or social post, or SVG for print or further editing. Both download directly with no watermark.
Is my data uploaded anywhere?
No. The chart is drawn entirely in your browser using the data you type or paste - nothing is sent to a server, and closing the tab clears it.
Can I download my data back out as a CSV?
Yes - the parsed rows behind the chart can be downloaded as a tidy CSV file, separately from the PNG or SVG image, which is useful if you built the data by typing it in rather than pasting it from a spreadsheet.
Why is a doughnut chart harder to read with lots of slices?
Because judging and comparing angles or areas precisely is something human vision is genuinely bad at, and it gets worse as more slices are added - a doughnut or pie chart with more than five or six slices becomes difficult to compare by eye even though the numbers behind it are perfectly accurate. Use the grouping option to combine small slices, or switch to a bar chart for a longer list of categories.