How to Make a Lollipop Chart in PowerPoint (A Better Alternative to Pie Charts)

If your first instinct when you have data is to insert a pie chart…don’t worry. You’re not alone.

But pie charts are almost never the best choice, especially when you have more than 3 data points. They’re hard to compare, hard to read, and they make your audience work way too hard. So today, we’re going to do something more fun (and more readable): turn a column chart into a lollipop chart in PowerPoint. PowerPoint does not include a lollipop chart option so we’ll build it manually — and it’s easier than it sounds.

Why not pie charts?

Pie charts are only okay when you have 2–3 data points, max.

Once you have a full list of values:

• the slices get tiny
• labels get messy
• and people can’t compare differences accurately

A column chart is almost always better because our brains are great at comparing heights. But we’re going one step further…

What is a lollipop chart?

A lollipop chart is basically:

• a dot (the candy)
• connected to the axis with a thin line (the stick)

It shows the same data as a column chart, but often looks:

• cleaner
• less heavy
• more modern
• more “designed”

Step 1: Start with a column chart (or convert your pie chart)

If you already inserted a pie chart:

1. Click the chart
2. Go to Chart Design
3. Choose Line
4. Select 2-D Line

Now your chart becomes a line chart — and that matters because line charts have markers, and we’re about to weaponize those markers. Time to make the lollipop chart.

Step 3: Format the markers (the “lollipop candy”)

1. Right-click the line in the chart
2. Choose Format Data Series

A formatting panel will open.

Make the markers big and round

1. Expand Marker
2. Go to Marker Options
3. Choose Built-in
4. Pick the circle
5. Increase the size (example: 30 for a bold, obvious lollipop)

Fill color + remove border

Still in Marker options:

• Set Fill → Solid Fill
• Choose a color (ex: a dark purple)
• Set Border → No Line

✅ Now your chart has “candy dots.”

Step 4: Add Drop Lines (the “lollipop sticks”)

Here’s the trick that makes this work.

1. Click the chart
2. Go to Chart Design
3. Click Add Chart Element
4. Go to Lines
5. Choose Drop Lines

Now you’ll see vertical lines dropping from each marker down to the axis. Those are your lollipop sticks.

Step 5: Format the drop lines

1. Click one of the drop lines (PowerPoint should select them all)
2. Open formatting options (Format pane)

Set:

• Line → Solid line
• Color: match your marker color
• Width: slightly thicker (so it reads clearly)

✅ Now it looks intentional, not default-PowerPoint-ish.

Step 6: Remove the line (so only lollipops remain)

We don’t actually want the line chart line.

We only want:

So:

1. Select the data series again (click the line or marker)
2. Go to Line
3. Choose No line

🎉 Now you have a lollipop chart.

It’s still technically a line chart…

but visually it’s a lollipop chart.

If your chart has data labels, you can move them around:

Move data labels

1. Select the data labels
2. In the Format pane, choose label position:

If labels are centered on the marker

If you move labels to the center, they may sit on top of the dot.

So you might want to make them readable:

1. Select labels
2. Go to Home
3. Change text color to white

Now your labels sit inside the lollipop candy like a tiny badge. Cute and readable.

Recap

Here’s the whole lollipop chart build process:

1. Start with a column chart (not pie)
2. Convert to a 2D line chart
3. Format the markers
   • circle
   • big
   • solid fill
   • no border
4. Add drop lines
5. Format drop lines to match
6. Remove the connecting line (No line)
7. Optional: adjust label placement + color

Final thought

Next time you reach for a column chart, try a lollipop chart instead. It’s the same data… just cleaner, lighter, and more fun to look at.