Excel 2010 Tips and Tricks

300 Tip 138: Creating a Gauge Chart
The formula in cell H3 calculates the remaining part of the pie — the part to the right of the
gauge’s “needle”:
=50%-H2
Following are the steps I took to create this gauge chart:
1. Select range H2:H4, choose Insert➜Charts➜Pie, and then choose the standard pie
chart icon.
2. Delete the chart’s legend.
3. Click the pie and press Ctrl+F1 to display the Format Data Series dialog box.
4. In the Format Data Series dialog box, click the Series Options tab and specify a rotation
value of 270.
This puts the 50 percent slice at the bottom of the pie.
5. Click the bottom slice of the pie, to select only that slice.
6. In the Format Data Point dialog box, click the Fill tab and choose No Fill.
This step hides the 50 percent slice. At this point, two slices are visible.
7. Select the slice on the right, click the Border Color tab in the Format Data Point dialog
box, and choose Solid Line.
8. With the same data point selected, click the Fill tab in the Format Data Point dialog box
and choose No Fill.
9. Choose Chart➜Layout➜Chart Title to add a title to the chart; move the title below the
visible pie slices.
10. Select the chart title, type an equal sign, and then click in cell F2.
A linked title displays the percent complete.
11. Use Insert➜Text➜Text Box to add other text boxes to display the 0%, 100%, and Percent
Complete labels.
12. Apply other cosmetic adjustments, as desired.