Excel Advanced Charts: Waterfall, Sunburst, and Combo Charts for Powerful Data Storytelling in 2026
A bar chart can show you numbers. A great chart tells a story. Excel's advanced chart types — Waterfall, Sunburst, Funnel, Combo, and more — go beyond basic bar and line charts to reveal patterns, part-to-whole relationships, and changes over time in ways that simpler charts cannot.
In 2026, Excel's charting capabilities include Copilot chart suggestions, improved formatting controls, and tighter Power BI integration. This guide covers the most impactful advanced chart types, when to use each, and how to build them correctly for maximum clarity.
Why Advanced Charts Matter
Most Excel users default to bar or pie charts. These are fine for simple comparisons, but they fail in common real-world scenarios:
A pie chart with 12 segments is unreadable. A Sunburst chart with hierarchy solves this.
A line chart cannot show how individual factors drive a change from one total to another. A Waterfall chart does.
Plotting revenue on a bar chart alongside a margin percentage on the same axis gives misleading proportions. A Combo chart with dual axes fixes this.
Choosing the right chart type is one of the highest-leverage decisions in any data presentation. Getting it right means the insight is obvious at a glance.
Waterfall Charts
What They Show
A Waterfall chart (also called a bridge chart) shows how a starting value changes through a series of positive and negative contributions to reach a final value. It is the standard chart for income statement bridges, budget variance analysis, and change-over-time breakdowns.
When to Use
Profit and loss bridges: "How did we go from GBP5M revenue to GBP1.2M net profit?"
Budget vs. actuals: "Which line items caused the GBP200K variance?"
Headcount changes: "How did we go from 120 employees to 108 this quarter?"
How to Build One
Set up your data with categories in column A and values in column B.
Include a starting total row, intermediate change rows, and an ending total row.
Select your data range.
Click Insert > Charts > Waterfall (under the bar chart icon in All Charts).
Excel generates the chart. Bars above the baseline are increases (typically blue), bars below are decreases (typically orange or red).
To mark a bar as a subtotal or total, right-click the bar and choose "Set as Total."
Formatting Tips
Use the Format Data Series panel to set custom colours for Increase, Decrease, and Total bars.
Add Data Labels so exact values appear on each bar.
Add thin connector lines between bars to make the flow visually clear.
Sunburst Charts
What They Show
A Sunburst chart is a hierarchical pie chart displayed as concentric rings. Each ring represents a level in a hierarchy, and each segment's size reflects its proportion of the parent level. It is vastly more readable than a pie chart when you have multi-level categories.
When to Use
Sales by region, country, and product line
Website traffic by channel, source, and medium
Budget by division, department, and cost category
How to Build One
Organize your data in a hierarchy table: Column A = Level 1, Column B = Level 2, Column C = Level 3, Column D = Values.
Leave parent-level rows with no value — only the leaf nodes need values.
Select the entire hierarchy table including headers.
Click Insert > Charts > Sunburst (under Hierarchy in All Charts).
Excel reads the hierarchy from your column structure and builds the rings automatically. Inner rings are higher-level categories; outer rings are the most granular.
Formatting Tips
Add data labels at the outer ring only to avoid clutter.
Use distinct hues for Level 1 categories and lighter shades for sub-levels to reinforce hierarchy visually.
Keep Level 1 categories to five or fewer for maximum readability.
Combo Charts — Dual Axis
What They Show
A Combo chart combines two chart types in one — typically bars for one data series and a line for another. When the two series have very different scales (e.g., revenue in millions and margin as a percentage), a secondary axis allows each series to be scaled independently.
When to Use
Revenue (bars) and gross margin percentage (line) over time
Sales volume (bars) and customer satisfaction score (line) by month
Headcount (bars) and revenue per employee (line) by quarter
How to Build One
Select your data range with two series: e.g., Revenue and Margin % across months.
Click Insert > Charts > Combo (the last option in All Charts).
In the Insert Chart dialog, set Revenue to Clustered Column and Margin % to Line with Markers.
Check the Secondary Axis checkbox for the Margin % series.
Click OK.
Formatting Tips
Label your secondary axis clearly — readers easily miss the dual-axis context.
Use contrasting colours: e.g., dark blue bars and an orange line.
Add data labels to the line series so exact percentages are visible without referencing the axis.
Funnel Charts
What They Show
A Funnel chart shows values progressively decreasing through stages — ideal for any process with a conversion or drop-off rate.
When to Use
Sales pipeline: Lead > Qualified > Proposal > Closed
Recruitment: Applied > Screened > Interviewed > Offered > Hired
Website conversion: Visitors > Sign-Ups > Free Trial > Paid
How to Build One
List your stages in column A (from widest to narrowest) and values in column B.
Select the data.
Click Insert > Charts > Funnel (under the bar chart icon in All Charts).
Excel automatically sizes each bar relative to the maximum value and centres them to create the funnel shape.
Using Copilot to Choose and Build Charts in 2026
In 2026, Copilot in Excel can recommend chart types based on your selected data:
Select a data range.
Click Copilot in the Home tab.
Type: "What chart type would best visualize this data and why?"
Copilot analyses your data structure and recommends a chart type with an explanation. For hierarchical data it suggests Sunburst or Treemap. For time-series with two metrics on different scales it suggests a Combo chart. For sequential totals, a Waterfall.
You can also ask Copilot to create the chart directly: "Create a Waterfall chart from this data showing how we got from revenue to net profit." Copilot inserts and formats the chart — a significant time-saver for first drafts.
General Charting Best Practices
Remove chart borders and make gridlines very light — they add visual noise without adding information.
Never use 3D chart effects — they distort proportions and make data harder to read accurately.
Use a consistent colour palette across all charts in a deck or report.
Always add a descriptive chart title: "Sales by Region Q2 2026" beats "Chart 3."
Add a source note below: "Source: Internal CRM, May 2026."
Test on a greyscale printout — if segments are indistinguishable without colour, add labels or patterns.
Conclusion
Moving beyond bar and pie charts is one of the fastest ways to elevate the quality of your Excel presentations. Waterfall charts tell financial stories. Sunburst charts reveal hierarchical proportions. Combo charts put two related metrics in honest comparison. Funnel charts trace conversion rates at a glance.
In 2026, with Copilot ready to recommend and draft these chart types based on your data, there is no reason to default to the same basic charts. Open your next workbook, select your data, and let the right chart type do the storytelling. Your audience will notice the difference.
