Sankey Chart From Excel Data: Turn a Spreadsheet Into a Sankey Diagram
Excel has no built-in Sankey chart type. Copy a source, target, value table from Excel, paste it into a new QueryChart Sankey and edit the diagram. No add-ins or macros.
Excel's chart gallery does not include a Sankey chart. If your flows live in a spreadsheet, the quickest route is to bring the table to a tool that draws Sankey diagrams natively.
Excel can hold the data well: one row per flow, with a source column, a target column and an amount. What it cannot do on its own is draw ribbons whose width follows those amounts. People usually work around that with a third-party add-in, a stacked-bar imitation or a separate visualisation tool, and each of those has a cost: an install, a diagram that breaks when the data changes, or a manual redraw.
In QueryChart you open a new Sankey chart, choose Paste a list of flows, and paste the cells you copied. The example above started as exactly that kind of table: three sales channels, three regions and two product lines. The diagram is a copy of the numbers, not a live link to the workbook, so when the figures change you edit the amounts in the QueryChart sheet or paste a fresh export into a new chart.
How to read this diagram
- Each channel ribbon splits into regions, so you can see both how big a channel is and where it sells.
- Nordics is the largest region (400) and Software the larger product line (570); the diagram shows how every channel contributes to both.
- A table with one column per stage becomes a chain of flows: Channel to Region, then Region to Product line.
- The figures are invented for the example.
The data behind it
Invented sales figures in thousands of euros, laid out as an Excel table of source, target and amount rows.
| From | To | Amount (k€) |
|---|---|---|
| Online | Nordics | 240 |
| Online | DACH | 180 |
| Online | UK | 120 |
| Retail | Nordics | 110 |
| Retail | DACH | 130 |
| Retail | UK | 80 |
| Partners | Nordics | 50 |
| Partners | DACH | 50 |
| Partners | UK | 40 |
| Nordics | Software | 250 |
| Nordics | Services | 150 |
| DACH | Software | 190 |
| DACH | Services | 170 |
| UK | Software | 130 |
| UK | Services | 110 |
The same data as CSV
source,target,value
Online,Nordics,240
Online,DACH,180
Online,UK,120
Retail,Nordics,110
Retail,DACH,130
Retail,UK,80
Partners,Nordics,50
Partners,DACH,50
Partners,UK,40
Nordics,Software,250
Nordics,Services,150
DACH,Software,190
DACH,Services,170
UK,Software,130
UK,Services,110How it works
Shape the table in Excel
Put each flow on its own row with three columns: source, target and amount. A cross-tab such as channel by region becomes one row per non-empty cell.
Copy the range and paste it into QueryChart
Select the rows in Excel and copy them. In a new, empty QueryChart Sankey choose Paste a list of flows and paste. Each distinct name becomes a node and each row a flow whose width is the amount.
Set the unit and tidy the layout
Choose the unit once for the chart, then pick alignment and colours. Names must be spelled identically in the source and target columns, or they become separate nodes.
Frequently asked questions
Does Excel have a built-in Sankey chart?
Not in its standard chart types at the time of writing. Sankey diagrams in Excel usually come from an add-in, a custom workaround or a different tool.
Do I have to install an Excel add-in?
No. QueryChart works from the data you paste, so nothing is installed in Excel and your workbook is not modified.
What happens when my Excel numbers change?
Edit the amounts in the QueryChart sheet and the diagram redraws, or paste the new export into a new chart. The diagram is not linked to the workbook, so it does not update by itself.
Paste your Excel data into a Sankey
Opens a new Sankey chart with a place to paste your source, target and amount rows.