Steps to make a pie chart in Google Forms
Google Forms turns multiple-choice and dropdown answers into pie charts automatically. To find and share yours, follow these steps:
- Open your form in Google Forms.
- Click the Responses tab.
- Scroll to a question to see its pie chart.
- Click Copy chart to paste it elsewhere.
Data drives today’s world, impacting everything from high-level business decisions to finding somewhere for dinner. But not everyone is interested in looking at complex spreadsheets and endless numbers.
That’s where data visualization comes in. It’s a powerful way to transform raw data into meaningful insights. One of the most popular and effective ways to visually present data is with pie charts, which provide a clear and concise picture of how a particular data set is distributed.
Whether you’re an administrator analyzing survey responses, a business leader examining customer feedback, or simply someone looking to present information in a visually appealing format, learning how to make a pie chart in Google Forms can help. Read on to discover the step-by-step process for creating informative pie charts with Google Forms, as well as an alternative tool that can help you achieve similar results.
1. Create a Google Form
Open Google Forms and select the form that contains the data you want to present. If you don’t yet have a Google Form, you’ll have to create a new one and collect responses.
2. Go to the Responses tab
Next, click the Responses tab.
3. View your pie charts
You’ll now see simple pie charts representing the responses to each question.
Pro Tip
In the Responses tab, multiple-choice and dropdown questions usually appear as pie charts. However, checkbox questions allow multiple selections, so their results are typically shown as a bar chart instead.
4. Copy the pie chart
Click Copy chart in the upper right and paste the image where you’d like it to appear.
While this process is straightforward, it doesn’t allow you to customize the chart’s text or design. Plus, you can only share it by copying and pasting the image. To customize the pie chart, you’ll need Google Sheets.
5. Link your responses to Google Sheets
Many people link their responses to Google Sheets because it unlocks more options, like custom colors, labels, and chart styles. To do it, you first need to click Link to Sheets in the upper right to create a linked spreadsheet that will collect form responses.
6. Create a spreadsheet
Click Create to open a new spreadsheet. Alternatively, you can select the other option to open an existing spreadsheet.
7. Select your data
In your new Google Sheet, select the data in the column you want to display as a pie chart (including the column label and the data below it).
8. Insert a chart
Click on the Insert menu and select the Chart option.
9. Choose the chart type
Select Pie chart from the chart type dropdown menu.
10. Customize colors and labels
Customize the chart’s appearance and labels in the chart editor using the Customize tab. To change a slice’s color, open the Pie slice section, pick the slice from the dropdown, and choose a new color. Repeat for each slice you want to change.
Once you’ve created the pie chart in Google Sheets, you can also embed it into a Google Slides presentation, share it as a link, or download it as an image to use in reports or presentations. To see these options, click on the chart, then select the three-dot (⋮) menu in the top right.
Why you should use Jotform for visualizing report data instead
Google Forms gets you a basic pie chart fast, but that’s where it stops. You can’t fully restyle the charts. To share them, you’ve also got to copy and paste images, which becomes tedious.
Jotform builds reporting into the platform, so you can turn submission data into an editable chart and share the whole report.
Here’s how to create a pie chart in Jotform:
- Open your form submissions in Jotform Tables.
- Click the + New Tab button at the top of the page.
- Click on Reports.
- Choose the form you want to show data for.
- Select the Report View you want, then click the Create button.
You’ll now see an auto-generated report on all your form submissions represented as charts.
- To change any chart into a pie chart, click on it. Then click the gear icon above the chart to open the Chart Settings menu. You’ll then be able to select the pie chart format.
Migrate your Google Forms to Jotform for data visualization
Google Forms lets you build pie charts quickly, and with Google Sheets, you can also adjust the colors and labels. But if you find yourself wasting time copying images and wrestling with spreadsheet settings, it’s time for an upgrade.
Jotform lets you collect responses and turn them into clear, shareable visuals in one place. The auto-generated reports show your submission data as charts, and you can easily switch any of them to a pie chart and customize further using Jotform’s drag-and-drop tools. There’s no separate spreadsheet link, and you won’t have to paste screenshots.
Even as new submissions come in, your pie charts update automatically and will always reflect the latest data. You can embed the report on a website, share a report with a link, or download it as a PDF for a presentation — all without leaving Jotform.
Don’t want to start over? Jotform’s migration tools help you bring over your existing Google Forms. You can keep the forms your audience already knows while gaining better data visualization and reporting capabilities.
Ready to see the difference for yourself? Migrate Google Forms to Jotform today.
This article is for Google Forms users, educators, business owners, and survey creators who want to visualize response data with pie charts, customize their charts, and explore more advanced reporting and data analysis options.
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