What is a stacked bar chart?

A stacked bar chart divides each bar into multiple series stacked vertically. Because it shows both the total and the breakdown at the same time, it's a workhorse of business reports.

Difference from a regular bar chart

A regular bar chart places series side by side for comparison. A stacked chart stacks them vertically so you can read both the totals and how the totals are composed.

When to use it

Monthly sales by product

Show the monthly total and which product contributed how much.

Cost composition by department

Departmental cost totals broken down into personnel, ads, equipment, etc.

Visits by channel

Daily visits broken down into search, social, direct, etc.

Survey response composition

Show the satisfied/neutral/dissatisfied split per question.

Tips for making one well

1. Choose the stack order deliberately

Stack with a consistent rule — by importance, by size, or by chronology. Place the series you most want readers to compare at the bottom.

2. Aim for three to five series

Beyond six series, it gets hard to tell which color is which. Group small categories into "Other."

3. Encode meaning in your colors

Tying colors to category meaning (e.g., "Revenue = blue tones, Cost = red tones") makes the chart intuitive to read.

4. For totals only, use a regular bar chart

If the breakdown isn't important and you only want to compare totals, a regular bar chart can read more clearly.

FAQ

Yes. Toggle "100% stacked" under "Adjust appearance" to switch each bar's total to 100% and show proportions instead of absolutes. The underlying data is unchanged — only the display mode switches.

There's no technical cap, but for readability we recommend five or six at most. Beyond that, distinguishing colors gets difficult.

For horizontal stacking, use the dedicated stacked horizontal bar chart. It also supports 100% stacked (Likert-style) display.

Set "Legend values" to "Value," "Percent," or "Both" to show series totals in the legend. Hovering over the chart shows each segment's value and share of the whole as a tooltip. Choose your palette with text contrast in mind.

Currently only individual segments are labeled. To write a total above each bar, the most reliable option is to add it in an editor after exporting the image.

Make a Stacked Bar Chart