What is a funnel chart?

A funnel chart shows a single process moving through ordered stages, drawn as stacked slices that narrow from top to bottom. Each slice's width is proportional to its value, so the visual shrinkage from one stage to the next shows exactly how much was lost - a sales pipeline narrowing from leads to closed deals, or a signup flow narrowing from visits to completed accounts.

Which field becomes the stages, and what controls the order?

The Column field's distinct values become the stages, one slice per value, and the Row field's value sets each slice's width. The funnel doesn't sort itself independently - it uses the same chart-wide Sort setting every other chart type uses, which defaults to sorting the measure in descending order. That default is exactly what produces a proper narrowing funnel shape automatically. If the chart's sort is changed to ascending or none, the slices will be ordered that way instead, and the shape may no longer look like a typical funnel.

Why does my funnel only show stage names with no numbers?

Turning on Show Data Labels by itself only adds the stage name to each slice. Show Values and Show Percentage are separate toggles underneath it, and Show Values is on by default once labels are enabled - if you've turned it off, or if Show Data Labels was enabled through a saved chart that predates that default, the label falls back to just the name.

Can I style each slice's color, border, or opacity individually?

No. Slice colors are generated automatically from your chart-wide color palette, one shade per stage, with no per-slice color, border, or opacity control in the formatting panel despite the panel's 'Label & Slice' name - that panel only controls the data labels. There is also no control for funnel orientation; it always narrows vertically, top to bottom.

When should I use a funnel chart instead of a sankey diagram?

Use a funnel chart for a single linear process with one path through ordered stages - a pipeline, a signup flow, an application process. Use a Sankey Diagram when flows branch or merge between two open-ended sets of values, like a customer journey across pages or a budget spread across departments, where a strict top-to-bottom sequence doesn't capture the real structure.

Funnel Chart | Edilitics Docs

Show a single process narrowing stage by stage, with each slice's width proportional to its value. Best for conversion funnels and pipeline drop-off.

A funnel chart shows a single process moving through ordered stages, drawn as stacked slices that narrow from top to bottom. Drop exactly one categorical or date field into Column - its values become the stages - and exactly one numeric field into Row to set each slice's width. Use it when the story is a single process losing volume at each step, not a branching flow between two open-ended sets of values.

When to Use

A funnel chart answers "where in this process are we losing the most" - a sales pipeline narrowing from leads to closed deals, a signup flow narrowing from visits to activated accounts, a hiring process narrowing from applicants to offers. The visual shrinkage between consecutive slices is the entire point: a big drop between two stages is immediately visible as a sharp narrowing, while a healthy stage shows almost no shrinkage at all.

The funnel's shape comes from the chart's Sort setting, not a rule built into this chart type. By default, the chart-wide sort orders the measure in descending order, which is exactly what produces a properly narrowing funnel. If that sort is changed to ascending or turned off, the slices will follow that order instead - the funnel chart itself has no independent "always biggest on top" logic.

Switch to a different chart when:

Your flows branch or merge between two open-ended sets of values, not a strict single sequence - use a Sankey Diagram
You need exact stage values in a list, not a visual narrowing shape - use Text Table
You're comparing totals across categories with no inherent sequence or drop-off - use Horizontal Bar

Scenario	Stage Field (Column)	Value (Row)
Sales pipeline conversion	Pipeline stage	Deal count
Signup flow drop-off	Funnel step	User count
Hiring process narrowing	Recruitment stage	Candidate count
Email campaign engagement	Engagement step	Recipient count
Support ticket resolution stages	Ticket status	Ticket count

Required Inputs

Field	Type	Count
Dimension (Stages)	Categorical or Date	Exactly 1
Measure (Slice width)	Numeric	Exactly 1

For step-by-step build instructions, see Build Your First Chart.

Formatting Options

The Format tab unlocks after both fields are assigned.

Style

Use the chart title to state what process the funnel is tracking, since stage names alone don't always make the sequence obvious.

Control	What it does
Show Chart Title	Shows or hides the title.
Enter Chart Title	Title text. Maximum 50 characters.
Font family	Font applied to the title.
Font size	5 to 30.
Bold / Italic	Weight and style.
Alignment	Left, center, or right within the chart container.

Funnel Series is a small, focused panel - just the two structural controls beyond width that this chart type exposes.

Control	What it does
Align	Left, center, or right. How each slice aligns relative to the funnel's centerline.
Gap	Pixel spacing between consecutive slices.

Funnel Layout has a single control: how wide the funnel is within its chart area.

Control	What it does
Width (%)	10 to 100. How much of the chart's horizontal space the funnel occupies.

Despite the name, this panel only controls data labels - there is no per-slice color, border, or opacity control anywhere in the formatting options. Slice colors are generated automatically from your chart-wide palette.

Control	What it does
Show Data Labels	Shows or hides labels on each slice. Off by default. By itself, this only adds the stage name - it does not show the number.
Show Values	Shows the slice's value alongside its name. On by default once Show Data Labels is enabled.
Number Type	Default, Scientific, Decimal, or Percentage, for the value shown.
Display Unit	None, Thousand, Million, or Billion.
Show Percentage	Shows what percentage of the largest stage's value this slice represents.
Font Family / Color / Font size / Bold / Italic	Styling for the label text.
Label Position	Inside, Center, Inside Left, Inside Right, or Outside, relative to the slice.

Show Data Labels and Show Values are separate toggles. If a funnel shows only stage names with no numbers, check that Show Values (or Show Percentage) is also on - Show Data Labels alone only adds the name.

The legend lists each stage by name, useful when slice labels are turned off or when stage names are long enough to be easier to read in a list.

Control	What it does
Show Legends	Shows or hides the legend entirely.
Vertical Position / Horizontal Position	Where the legend sits within the chart area.
Show Name	Default (always visible) or On Hover (names appear only while hovering a slice). Defaults to On Hover.
Orientation	Horizontal or vertical layout of legend items.
Item Gap	Spacing between legend entries.
Font Size / Color	Styling for the legend text.

Interactivity

The tooltip appears on hover over a slice, showing the stage name and its value, with an optional percentage.

Control	What it does
Show Tooltip	Shows or hides the tooltip entirely.
Show Percentage	Adds a percentage line to the tooltip, alongside the name and value lines.
Header / value text styling	Font, size, and color for the lines shown in the tooltip.

Animation controls the slices' transition when the chart first renders or the data changes.

Control	What it does
Enable Animation	Turns the transition animation on or off.
Duration	How long the transition takes.
Delay	How long the transition waits before starting.
Easing Function	The transition curve.

Emphasis controls the visual response when hovering a slice - a scale-up effect and a drop shadow. Off by default.

Control	What it does
Show Emphasis	Turns hover effects on.
Focus Type	Item, Series, or None.
Enable Scale	Scales the hovered slice up slightly.
Scale Size	1.0x to 2.0x.
Shadow Blur / Color / Offset X / Offset Y	Drop shadow styling on the hovered slice.
Border Width	Border added around the hovered slice.

Enable the Toolbox when viewers need to export the chart or inspect its underlying data.

Control	What it does
Show Toolbox	Shows or hides the toolbox icon bar.
Save as Image	Adds a download icon that saves the chart as a PNG.
Data View	Adds an icon that opens the underlying data table in a separate view.

Best Practices

Check the chart's Sort setting if the funnel doesn't look right. A funnel chart has no built-in "always descending" rule of its own - it inherits whatever sort order the chart is currently using. If a funnel looks inverted or jumbled, the fix is in Sort, not in any funnel-specific setting.

Turn on Show Values, not just Show Data Labels, if you want numbers visible. These are two separate toggles. Show Data Labels alone only prints the stage name on each slice.

Use Show Percentage to make drop-off immediately readable. A percentage relative to the top stage communicates conversion rate at a glance, which raw counts alone require the viewer to calculate themselves.

Don't expect per-slice color control - plan palette colors at the chart level instead. Since slice colors come entirely from the chart-wide palette gradient, the way to control which stage gets which shade is by adjusting Start/End palette colors in chart-wide color settings, not in this chart's own formatting panel.

Reserve funnel charts for genuinely linear, single-path processes. If stages can branch, merge, or loop back, a funnel chart will force that data into a shape that misrepresents it - a Sankey Diagram handles branching flows correctly where a funnel cannot.

FAQs

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Funnel Chart