How to Create a Stacked Bar Chart
Data Format
One row per category. Each value column becomes one segment of that category's bar.
| Category | Value 1 | Value 2 | Value 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 24 | 12 | 6 |
| Q2 | 29 | 14 | 8 |
| Q3 | 27 | 13 | 7 |
| Q4 | 33 | 17 | 9 |
- Category (required): the label for each bar, listed down the left side.
- Value 1, Value 2, Value 3... (required, numeric): one column per segment. Add more value columns to add more segments per bar.
Negative values aren't supported in stacked mode, every value column should be zero or positive.
Chart Elements
Every part of the chart maps to a section in the style panel.
Bars
Each category is one bar, split into segments left to right in column order.
- Fill - one color row per value column.
- Stroke / Stroke Width - segment border.
Bar thickness (as a percentage of each row) isn't an exposed style control for horizontal bar charts, unlike the pixel-based Bar Width stepper on column charts.
Labels
The value shown inside each segment. Always centered in stacked mode, there's no outside-position option once segments share a bar.
- Color - text color.
- Font / Font Size - text styling.
- Prefix / Suffix - e.g. "$", "%".
Stack Totals
The combined total shown just past the end of each bar. Hidden by default.
- Color - text color.
- Font / Font Size - text styling.
- Prefix / Suffix - e.g. "$", "%".
Stack Connectors
Dashed lines linking each segment's edge to the same segment in the row above, so the eye can follow one series down the chart. Hidden by default.
- Color - line color.
- Stroke Width - line weight.
- Dash - Solid, Dashed, or Dotted.
Axis
Unlike a column chart, HBar's quantitative axis runs along X and its categorical axis runs along Y, the opposite of VBar. The category axis (Y) only has color and visibility.
- X Axis / Y Axis - show or hide each axis line independently.
X Min / X Max / X Ticks live under Axis Labels below, not here, since they control what the tick labels show rather than the axis line's own appearance.
Grid
Stacked bar charts only have vertical gridlines running up from the X axis, there's no horizontal grid.
- Color / Stroke Width - gridline styling.
Axis Labels
The category names along Y and the numbers along X share one color and font, but number formatting and range are set independently per axis.
- Color - applies to both axes.
- Font / Font Size - applies to both axes.
- Prefix / Suffix - X axis only.
- X Min / X Max / X Ticks - override the auto-calculated X range.
- Rotation - set independently for X and Y.
Legend
Appears automatically once there are two or more value columns.
- Position - Top, Bottom, Right, or Direct.
- Color - legend text color.
- Font / Font Size - legend text styling.
Set Mode to Grouped for side-by-side bars instead of stacked segments, see the Grouped Bar Chart guide, or to 100% Stacked to show proportions instead of totals, see the 100% Stacked Bar Chart guide.