# A sunburst chart that opens with a click in Power BI

> Get started with Sunburst Plume: prepare a Region, City, Category hierarchy, insert the visual, open a sector with a click, go back, filter the page and read the percentages.

- Language: English
- Web page: https://plumevisuals.com/en/tutorials/sunburst-plume-prise-en-main
- Published: 2026-10-21
- Visual: Sunburst Plume, technical reference: https://plumevisuals.com/ai/visuals/sunburst.md
- If an option name in this tutorial differs from the technical reference, the reference is right (it is generated from the visual's code).

## In short

**What is a sunburst chart?** It is a ring with several floors. The center ring shows the first level of a hierarchy (for example regions); each sector extends outward into its children (the cities of the region), then into their own children (the categories sold in each city). The size of a sector is its share: a sector covering a quarter of the turn weighs a quarter of its parent.

Mini example. A retailer makes $348,000: $140,000 in London, $70,000 of it in Westminster. The London sector covers 40% of the first ring; just outside it, Westminster takes half the width of London.

- **What the visual does.** Sunburst Plume draws 1 to 8 levels as rings, writes the names along the arcs, shows the total in the center and the percentages of the parent or of the total. It has **two modes**: *Explore*, where a click opens the level beneath (animated zoom, breadcrumb, back through the center), and *All levels*, where everything is shown and a click filters the page.
- **When to use it.** To show how a total breaks down over several levels: sales by region, city and category; spending by department, item and supplier; headcount by site, team and job.
- **When to choose something else.** To compare precise values with each other: Bar Plume. To follow a total over time: Line Plume (Sunburst Plume can also replay its rings year by year, with the **Play axis ★** field). For flows from one category to another: Sankey Plume.
- **What you will be able to do.** Prepare the table, create the measure, insert the visual, open and close a sector, switch to *All levels*, filter the page and read the percentages.
- **What you need:** Power BI Desktop, the Sunburst Plume visual installed (see [the shared basics](/en/tutorials/bien-demarrer-visuels-plume)), a table with at least one category column and an amount. The **PlumeSunburst-Sample-EN** sample report, in your ["Downloads"](/en/account/downloads) area, shows exploring and all levels (page 1), use cases (page 2), the ★ features (page 3) and the play axis, year by year (page 4).

## The data to provide

**The shape.** One row per combination of the finest level, with one column per level and an amount. Levels are **columns** (text, number or date); the amount goes through a **measure** (a DAX formula that adds up), so that Power BI computes each sector correctly.

| Region | City | Category | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | Westminster | Furniture | 41000 |
| London | Westminster | Lighting | 29000 |
| London | Camden | Furniture | 38000 |
| London | Camden | Decor | 32000 |
| South West | Bristol | Furniture | 36000 |
| South West | Bristol | Lighting | 18000 |
| South West | Bath | Decor | 14000 |
| Wales | Cardiff | Furniture | 22000 |
| Wales | Cardiff | Kitchen | 9000 |
| Wales | Swansea | Decor | 11000 |

To try it without a file: **Modeling › New table**, then paste:

```dax
Sales =
DATATABLE (
    "Region", STRING, "City", STRING, "Category", STRING, "Amount", DOUBLE,
    {
        { "London", "Westminster", "Furniture", 41000 },
        { "London", "Westminster", "Lighting", 29000 },
        { "London", "Camden", "Furniture", 38000 },
        { "London", "Camden", "Decor", 32000 },
        { "South West", "Bristol", "Furniture", 36000 },
        { "South West", "Bristol", "Lighting", 18000 },
        { "South West", "Bath", "Decor", 14000 },
        { "Wales", "Cardiff", "Furniture", 22000 },
        { "Wales", "Cardiff", "Kitchen", 9000 },
        { "Wales", "Swansea", "Decor", 11000 }
    }
)
```

Then the measure (**Modeling › New measure**):

```dax
Revenue =
SUM ( Sales[Amount] )    -- adds up the amounts of the rows of each sector
```

Format it as currency (**Measure tools › Format**: Currency).

**Pitfalls.**
- A **negative** amount cannot make a share of a ring: the row is left out and a warning icon appears.
- A **blank** value in a level (a city without a category, for example) stops the branch: the city sector stays, with nothing outside it. That is the right behavior for a ragged hierarchy.
- Without a measure in **Size**, the visual counts rows.

## Step by step

1. Insert **Sunburst Plume** from the **Visualizations** pane. The visual shows "Add fields to get started".
2. Drag `Region`, then `City`, then `Category` into **Groups**, in that order: the first field is the center ring.
3. Drag the `Revenue` measure into **Size**. Two rings appear (regions and cities), the total is in the center and the title "Revenue by Region, City and Category" is written for you. A thin line on the edge of the cities shows that one more level can be opened.
4. Hover a sector: the center shows its name, its value and its share of the parent; the tooltip gives the path ("London › Westminster"), the share of the parent and the share of the total.
5. Click **London**. The sector opens: it takes the whole circle, its cities and their categories appear, and the breadcrumb reads **All › London**.
6. Click **Westminster**: you see its categories. Click the **center** to go up one level, or **All** in the breadcrumb to go back to the start.
7. To filter the other visuals of the page without opening the sector, **Ctrl + click** a region. Click an empty area of the visual to clear the selection.
8. Open **Format › Layout › Mode** and choose *All levels always shown*: the three rings show at once and a simple click filters the page.
9. In **Format › Data labels › Content**, choose *Name and percentage*: each label shows the sector's share of its parent.
10. Save. In the published report, readers open and close sectors the same way (with the keyboard too: arrows, Enter, Backspace).

## Troubleshooting

| What you see | Likely cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| "Add fields to get started" | Nothing in **Groups** | Drag at least one column into **Groups** |
| A single ring although you have three fields | *Explore* mode, or the other two fields are blank | Click a sector, or increase **Layout › Levels shown at once** |
| Title "Count by …" and whole numbers | No measure in **Size** | Drag your measure into **Size** |
| Warning icon "Negative values ignored" | Negative amounts (credit notes, returns) | Filter them out or use a measure that excludes them |
| Many gray "Others" sectors | More than 12 children per parent | **Sectors and levels › Sectors per parent at most**: increase it or set 0 |
| Some names do not show | Sector too small for its text | Enlarge the visual, lower **Data labels › Text size**, or read the tooltip |
| A click does not filter the page | *Explore* mode: the click opens the sector | Ctrl + click, or **Interactions › Click on a sector** = *Open and filter the other visuals* |
| "Premium preview" watermark | A ★ feature is used without a key | Go back to the free setting or paste your key in **Format › Plume Studio License** |

## Key takeaways

- The order of the fields in **Groups** gives the order of the rings, from the center to the edge.
- *Explore*: a click opens, the center and the breadcrumb go back; *All levels*: a click filters.
- Percentages of the parent, of the total or of the opened sector need no DAX.
- Small sectors are grouped in "Others", blank values stop the branch.
- A year in **Play axis ★** (premium, usable with the watermark): ▶ replays the rings from one year to the next.

## Learn more

- [Use cases](/en/tutorials/sunburst-plume-cas-pratiques): colors, year-by-year change, comparison with last year, budget, icicle.
- [Fields and settings](/en/tutorials/sunburst-plume-champs-et-reglages): every setting of the Format pane.
- [Getting started with Plume visuals](/en/tutorials/bien-demarrer-visuels-plume): installation, license, styles, dynamic formatting.
- The visual's page: [Sunburst Plume](/en/visuals/sunburst). A question? [Support](/en/support).