In Excel: Excel has no Sankey chart type at any version — build it from a stacked bar skeleton, install an add-in from Insert ▸ Get Add-ins, or produce it in Power BI or Visio and paste the result back as a picture.
On this page7
Build a three-column table of Source, Target and Value; every route below consumes that shape.
Check the totals conserve: what leaves a node must equal what arrives at it, or the diagram will misrepresent the flow.
For a built-in route, open Insert ▸ Get Add-ins and search for Sankey; read the licence, since most are freemium and watermark the output.
For an in-workbook approximation, use a 100% stacked bar per stage with a shape or a filled area joining the segments.
For a presentation-quality diagram, produce it in Power BI or Visio Data Visualizer and paste the image into the sheet.
What this does
A Sankey diagram shows flows between stages, with band width proportional to the quantity moving along it. No Excel release, including Microsoft 365, ships it as a chart type, and nothing in the Insert gallery approximates it. The three honest routes are a manual construction from stacked bars and shapes, a marketplace add-in, or an external tool whose output is pasted in as an image. The same idea underpins a lot of everyday Excel work, so the few minutes spent getting it right here pay back across every sheet you build afterwards. Treat it as a pattern, not a one-off, and it stops being something you look up and starts being something you reach for. The difference between a quick fix and a sheet you can trust is the extra minute you spend validating “create sankey diagram in excel”. Start on a copy or a tiny sample, keep the affected cells visible, and compare the result with the tool above before you touch the real workbook. 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. The point is a layout choice that keeps the sheet readable and sortable, but the practical win is that someone else can open the file and understand what happened without asking you.
A worked example
A funnel of 1,000 visitors splits into 300 sign-ups and 700 drop-offs, and the sign-ups split again into 90 paid and 210 free. Written as a Source, Target, Value table, that is four rows — visitors to sign-ups, visitors to drop-offs, sign-ups to paid, sign-ups to free. That table is the shape every Sankey tool expects as input, and the thing to prepare before choosing a route. The honest answer saves an afternoon: people search for the chart type, find blog posts implying it exists, and rebuild the same disappointment from scratch. When the result is not what you expected, undo straight away rather than repairing it by hand — undo restores the sheet exactly, while manual fixes tend to leave small inconsistencies behind that surface later.
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. The aim was to get you unstuck fast and leave you a little more capable than a copy-paste would. The answer is at the top and the detail above shows why it holds — so the next time a colleague asks, you can answer without reaching for search. If you take one thing from this page on “create sankey diagram in excel”, make it the order of checks rather than the individual clicks: confirm what is selected, apply the step, and look at the result before moving on. That small routine is what keeps Excel work predictable when the same task comes back in a slightly different workbook.
Common mistakes
- Searching the Insert gallery for a chart type that does not exist in any version.
- Drawing the bands by hand at arbitrary widths, which quietly breaks the one property that makes a Sankey a Sankey.
- Letting inflow and outflow disagree at a node, so the diagram reads as though volume appeared or vanished.
- Shipping a watermarked add-in export into a client deck without checking the licence terms.
Frequently asked questions
Which Excel version has a Sankey chart?
None. It is absent from Excel 2016, 2019, 2021 and Microsoft 365 alike.
Is there a free add-in?
Insert ▸ Get Add-ins lists several. Most are free for small diagrams and watermark or limit larger ones, so check before building a deliverable on one.
What native chart comes closest?
A funnel chart (Excel 2019 and later) for a single path that only narrows, or a 100% stacked bar per stage when flows split but do not merge.
Can I animate or make it interactive?
Not in Excel. Power BI's Sankey visual supports interaction; an Excel copy will always be a static picture.
Other ways people ask this
This is also commonly searched as “how to make a sankey diagram in excel”, “how to create a sankey diagram in excel” and “how to make sankey diagram 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 sankey diagram in excel”, “how to create a sankey diagram in excel”, “how to make sankey diagram in excel” all point at the one operation explained on this page, which is why they all lead here.