In Excel: put the categories in one column and each subject in its own column, then choose Insert ▸ Waterfall, Funnel, Stock, Surface or Radar ▸ Radar.
On this page7
List the categories down one column and each subject in its own adjacent column.
Select the block including the headers and the category labels.
Insert ▸ Charts ▸ Waterfall, Funnel, Stock, Surface or Radar ▸ pick Radar, Radar with Markers or Filled Radar.
Right-click the value axis ▸ Format Axis and fix Minimum and Maximum so charts are comparable.
For a filled radar, set each series fill to about 40 percent transparency so the series behind it stays visible.
What this does
A radar chart arranges the categories as spokes around a circle and plots each subject as a closed outline joining its values on those spokes. Excel offers three variants: plain radar, radar with markers, and filled radar. It works only when every category shares a comparable scale, because all spokes read against the same axis. Before you run it on a workbook other people depend on, try it on a copy or a few rows first. Undo only reaches back through the current session, so a quick trial run is the cheapest way to see exactly what will change before the file is saved and shared. For “create a radar chart in excel”, the reliable version is a short checking loop, not just the first command that appears to work. Run it on a deliberately small range first, watch how the affected chart change, and only then apply the same setup to the full sheet. When this is a ribbon command, the selection matters more than the button: confirm the range, apply the command, then spot-check the output before saving. That is what makes a visual that makes the number obvious at a glance useful in real work: repeatable, auditable, and not dependent on memory or luck.
A worked example
Six competencies rated 1 to 5 for two candidates. Categories in A2:A7, candidate scores in B and C, headers in row 1. Select A1:C7 and insert Radar with Markers. Then set the axis maximum to 5 by hand so the shape means the same thing on every chart you produce. Skills matrices and vendor scorecards are shape comparisons, and a radar shows the shape — as long as the scale is pinned so two charts can be laid side by side. If this is something you do often, add the command to the Quick Access Toolbar (right-click it on the ribbon and choose Add to Quick Access Toolbar) or learn its shortcut, so next time it is one click instead of a hunt through the menus.
In Google Sheets
This is a command rather than a formula, so there is no syntax to carry over. Google Sheets arranges its commands in menus across the top instead of a ribbon, names some of them differently and does not have every Excel command — look for the equivalent in the Sheets menus or its help before assuming the steps match. Nothing on this page is behind a login or a download: the exact answer is at the top, and the detail below it is there for when you need it. That is the whole promise here — the answer first, and just enough context to make it stick. Treat “create a radar chart in excel” as a routine rather than a one-off. Once you know which setting or command controls it, the same few steps handle every workbook where it comes up in Excel, and you can explain them to a colleague in a sentence.
Common mistakes
- Mixing units on one radar — a score out of five and a revenue figure on adjacent spokes are unreadable together.
- Using more than about eight spokes, where the labels collide and the outline stops being a shape anyone can read.
- Leaving filled radar series opaque, so the series drawn first is completely hidden.
- Reading the enclosed area as a total: reordering the categories changes the area without changing a single value.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the radar chart in Excel?
Insert ▸ Charts ▸ the Waterfall, Funnel, Stock, Surface or Radar button, which holds all three radar variants.
How do I fix the outer edge of the scale?
Right-click the value axis, open Format Axis and set an explicit Maximum instead of leaving it automatic.
How do I compare two people on one chart?
Give each person their own column of values; every column becomes one outline on the same set of spokes.
Radar or bar chart?
A bar chart is easier to read for exact comparison. A radar is better when the shape of a profile, not the individual value, is the message.
Other ways people ask this
This is also commonly searched as “how to make a radar chart in excel” and “how to make radar chart in excel”. They describe the identical operation, so you are in the right place no matter how you phrased it.
Why do people search for this in so many different ways?
Because the same task has many names. “how to make a radar chart in excel”, “how to make radar chart in excel” all point at the one operation explained on this page, which is why they all lead here.