How to Make a Funnel Chart in Excel (2026)
Funnel charts visualize sequential drop-off — sales pipelines, conversion rates, hiring funnels. Native since Excel 2019 and Excel 365. This guide covers the build and the manual workaround for older versions.
⚡ Quick Answer
Two columns — stage name and value (in descending order). Insert tab → Funnel chart icon → Funnel. Chart inserts automatically with centered bars.
Method 1: Native funnel chart (Excel 2019 / 365)
Step 1: Set up your data
Two columns, values in descending order (funnels always narrow going down):
Stage Deals
Leads 1,000
Qualified 600
Demo scheduled 280
Proposal 140
Closed-won 70Step 2: Insert the funnel chart
Select the range
Include the header row.
Insert tab → Funnel chart icon
Small funnel icon in the Charts group. If you can't find it, click "Recommended Charts" → All Charts tab → Funnel.
Click "Funnel"
Excel builds the funnel with centered horizontal bars that decrease in width.
Step 3: Format for presentation
- Delete the chart border and background
- Simplify to a single color (or a gradient from dark to light going down)
- Data labels usually show value at end of each bar — keep them for clarity
- Add a takeaway-style title ("Q3 pipeline conversion: 7% end-to-end")
Adding conversion percentages
Funnels are much more useful when they show conversion rates between stages. Excel doesn't auto-calculate these — build them in the data.
Stage Deals Conv from prior
Leads 1,000 -
Qualified 600 60%
Demo scheduled 280 47%
Proposal 140 50%
Closed-won 70 50%Formula for conversion: =current/previous. Show the conversion column as annotations next to each bar, or embed it in the stage name ("Qualified (60%)").
Method 2: Manual funnel (Excel 2016 or earlier)
Older versions don't have native funnel charts. Build one from a stacked bar chart with invisible padding.
Set up three columns
Stage Padding Value
Leads 0 1,000
Qualified 200 600
Demo 360 280
Proposal 430 140
Closed-won 465 70Padding = (max_value - current_value) / 2. This centers each bar.
Build the chart
Insert stacked bar chart
From all three columns.
Make Padding invisible
Right-click Padding series → Format Data Series → Fill: No Fill; Border: No Line.
Reverse category order
Right-click Y-axis → tick "Categories in reverse order" so the wide end is at the top.
Format the visible bars
Delete the invisible-padding legend entry. Style the visible bars.
Common funnel use cases
Sales pipeline
Leads → Qualified → Demo → Proposal → Closed-won. The classic use case. Every SaaS deck has a version of this.
Web conversion
Visitors → Signups → Onboarded → Active → Paid. Product-led growth funnels use this shape.
Hiring funnel
Applied → Screened → Phone interview → Onsite → Offered → Hired. Recruiting metrics dashboards.
Marketing attribution
Impressions → Clicks → Landing page views → Conversions. Ad performance analysis.
Feature adoption
Feature viewed → Feature clicked → Feature used → Feature used regularly. Product analytics dashboards.
The stage with the sharpest drop is usually the story. Color that stage differently (accent color while others are neutral) so the eye lands on it. Funnels without a highlight leave the takeaway to the reader — often lost.
Funnels imply "these stages happen in this order and each depends on the prior." Using one for unrelated categories (revenue by product) is misleading. Use a sorted bar chart instead.
From pipeline data to funnel chart
Building a funnel means choosing stages, calculating conversion rates, and formatting the chart. Excel Wizard takes a pipeline data range and builds a funnel — automatically calculating conversion percentages between stages and adding them as annotations. Great for sales dashboards.
Install Excel Wizard →Frequently asked questions
How do I make a funnel chart in Excel?
Set up two columns — stage names and values (in descending order). Select the range. Insert tab → Funnel chart icon → Funnel. Native funnel charts require Excel 365 or Excel 2019.
When should I use a funnel chart?
Use funnel charts for sequential processes with drop-off between stages: sales pipelines, conversion funnels, hiring funnels. Values should decrease from top to bottom.
Can I make a funnel chart in Excel 2016 or earlier?
Not natively. Build a horizontal stacked bar chart with invisible left-padding to center the bars, creating the funnel shape manually.
How do I show conversion percentages on a funnel?
Add a third column calculating stage-to-stage conversion: =currentStage/previousStage. Show these in data labels or annotations. Excel doesn't compute these automatically — build them into the data.