How to Create a Half-Pie Gauge Chart in Google Slides for Executive Dashboards

February 8, 2026

You know the drill. You need a gauge chart for that Q4 executive summary to show progress toward a revenue goal.

Google Slides gives you... a standard pie chart.

So, you improvise. You create a pie chart, enter a dummy value to fill up half the circle, rotate it 270 degrees, and then carefully place a white rectangle over the bottom half to "hide" the unwanted section. You group the shapes and pray that nobody changes the slide background color, which would instantly reveal your "white rectangle" trick.

It’s messy, it breaks easily, and frankly, it feels unprofessional when you’re presenting to the C-suite.

Executive dashboards need to be clean, scannable, and precise. The Half-Pie Chart (often used as a gauge or speedometer chart) is the gold standard for displaying single-metric KPIs because it uses vertical space much more efficiently than a full circle.

Here is how you can generate a proper, data-driven Half-Pie chart directly inside Google Slides without the messy workarounds.

Why Native Options Fall Short

If you look through the native chart options in Google Slides (or even Google Sheets), you won't find a "Half-Pie" or "Gauge" option.

To achieve this natively, you usually have to:

  1. Create a Donut chart in Sheets.
  2. Add a "helper" data slice (usually 50% of the total) to force the chart to occupy only the top half.
  3. Color the bottom slice transparent or white.
  4. Copy-paste it into Slides and hope the formatting sticks.

It’s a lot of friction for a simple visual.

The Better Way: Using ExtraChart

This is exactly why we built ExtraChart. We realized that modern presenters need specific chart types that Google simply forgot to include.

With the ExtraChart add-on, "Half Pie" is a native chart type. It treats the semi-circle layout as a default, meaning you don't need dummy data or hidden shapes.

Step 1: Open the Sidebar

Once you have ExtraChart installed, just go to Extensions -> ExtraChart -> Create & Edit Charts.

The sidebar will open on the right. You’ll see a categorized list of chart types that aren't available natively, like Radar charts, Funnels, and our target today: the Half Pie.

Sidebar menu: Selecting the Half Pie Chart icon

Step 2: Input Your KPI Data

Click the Half Pie icon. The popup editor will launch.

On the Data tab, you can paste your data directly from Excel or Sheets. For a gauge chart, you typically only need two or three rows.

For example, if you are tracking a "75% Complete" project status:

  • Completed: 75
  • Remaining: 25

The preview updates instantly. Unlike the native hack, you don't need to add a "Total" row to force the semi-circle shape. The chart engine handles the geometry for you.

Step 3: Customize the "Gauge" Look

This is where you turn a simple chart into a professional dashboard element. Switch to the Settings tab to refine the look:

  • Inner Radius (Donut Effect): Increase the inner radius to turn the solid half-pie into an arch. This creates that modern "speedometer" look that is popular in SaaS dashboards.
  • Colors: Use the Palette Manager to match your brand colors. A common technique for gauges is to make the "Remaining" slice a light grey so the "Completed" slice pops.
  • Labels: You can toggle labels on or off. For a clean gauge, I usually turn off the slice labels and place a large text box with the percentage ("75%") directly in the center of the arch on the slide itself.

Step 4: Insert and Edit

Click Create, and the chart inserts as a high-resolution image on your slide.

The best part? If your Q4 numbers change next week, you don't need to rebuild it. Just select the chart image on the slide, open ExtraChart, and it pulls your previous data and settings back up. You update the number to 80, click update, and you're done.

Comparison: ExtraChart vs. Standard Sheets

If you want to see the difference in customization depth between what we offer and standard Google Sheets charts, check out this breakdown on pie chart settings. The level of control you have over spacing, borders, and radius makes a massive difference in the final polish.

Summary

Your executive deck is prime real estate. Don't waste space with full pie charts that only tell half a story, and don't waste time hacking shapes together.

Using a dedicated tool like ExtraChart allows you to build a library of reusable, brand-consistent gauge charts that look like they were designed by a professional agency, all without leaving Google Slides.