How to Make a Venn Diagram in Excel

1. Open a new Excel Workbook

2. Write down a list of each category you want to capture in the spreadsheet columns.

3. Create your Venn diagram with SmartArt by going into Insert tab and clicking on SmartArt. This will open the SmartArt Graphics Menu.

4. In the Relationship menu choose the Venn diagram template that you want to use.

Add Titles

To add titles, simply enter the text into the menu that appears after choosing your Venn diagram template. You can then format your titles just like normal text, changing the font, size, color, and much more.

Add Circles to Venn diagram

Adding circles to your diagram is useful if you want to compare more variables. This can be done very easily by following these steps:

• Click into the diagram

• In the design tab, click “Add Shape”

Circles can be deleted by clicking on the shape, and pressing the Delete key. We went ahead and deleted the third circle, and added the titles “Mammals” and “Animals that Live in Water” to our two circles.

Style Your Venn Diagram

To style your circles, right-click on one of them and select Format Shape. Then, change the color in the menu that will appear on the right of the window—we switched the second circle to orange for our example.

Add Content to Circles

Now that you have formatted your Venn diagram how you want, you’re ready to add content to the circles. Follow these steps to add text to your Venn diagram:

• To include additional text in your diagram, you’ll need to draw text boxes onto the circles.

• After drawing the text boxes, fill in these boxes with the lists that you already made (see step #2 at the beginning of this tutorial).

• In this example, we’ve put “Mammals” on one side, and “Animals that Live in Water” on the other. Animals that are both mammals, and water animals occupy the middle, overlapping area of the diagram.

• Complete the diagram by adding all of your text to the appropriate circles.

If you decide to change the style of your diagram, just return to the Design tab to add circles or modify the structure. Be careful, though; the text you’ve added will not automatically snap to shapes and you may end up with an odd-looking diagram.

Although Excel can be a very powerful tool, it has many limitations on the diagrams that it can produce. Lucidchart, on the other hand, was created specifically for diagram creation, and has several useful features that you won’t find in Excel. The creative flexibility that Lucidchart gives is endless! With Lucidchart, you will be well on your way to creating stunning, professional-looking Venn diagrams.

Follow these simple steps to start on your incredible diagrams:

1. Sign up for a free Lucidchart account

Your new, free Lucidchart account is just one click away! Click here to begin.

2. Add shapes or use a template

There are two main ways to build a Venn diagram in Lucidchart. You can either place circles on the canvas to build it manually or you can make use of one of our awesome templates.

To Add Shapes

• Ensure that you have the Venn diagram shape libraries open by clicking the “+ Shapes” button and checking the Venn diagram libraries.

• Click on any shape from the toolbox, dragging it to the desired position on the page.

Use a Template

• To start with a template, click on the down arrow next to the “+ Document” button.

• Either search through all of the available templates, or click on the Venn diagram template library, choose the template that you want and enjoy!

3. Style your Venn Diagram

Customize your diagram by changing the color and style of your shapes. You can edit Venn Diagram elements just like other shapes in Lucidchart:

• Right-click a shape for quick-edits. In this menu you will be able to do several popular editing options such as sending a shape to the back, drawing a line, and much more.

• Click and drag the shape to move it. Resize the shape by dragging from an edge or corner, and click and drag the handle icon to rotate.

• Select any text or objects that you wish to modify and choose options from the properties bar at the top of the page.