Sankey Charts

Sankey diagrams use weighted paths to show the magnitude of flow between stages. Use them to understand contributions, transitions, and losses across a system.

Chart setup to build a sankey chart:

1

Axis

Drag the dimension to plot on the vertical axes (e.g., Region, Gender, Age group, Mode).

2

Values parameter

Drag the measures to analyze (e.g., Order).

3

Chart type

Select Horizontal Sankey from the Special charts section of the Chart Type dropdown menu.

Sankey charts are a great way to visualize cash flows, resource allocation, or revenue distribution between various dimension categories. The nodes represent the categories, the flows depict the connections between categories, and the width of the flows shows the quantity.

Data management for Sankey charts

1. Customization & formatting options under Canvas settings

1.1. Ignore missing value

Display node categories that are null by enabling the Ignore missing value toggle.

Ignore missing value

• Show blank label

Replace missing node categories with "Blank", indicating the category is null.

Show blank label

• Suppress null node categories by enabling the Ignore missing value toggle. Notice how the blank category is suppressed.

Null node categories are supressed

1.2. Remove negative values

This toggle should be disabled to display negative values in Sankey charts. The absolute value will be displayed without the negative sign.

Remove negative values

1.2. Interaction

• Enable Hover

Enable this option to highlight a flow when you hover over it.

Hover interaction

• Active flow opacity

Set the opacity of the selected flow.

Active flow opacity

• Inactive flow opacity

Set the opacity of flows that are not selected.

Inactive flow opacity

1.3. Node

• Width: Set the thickness of the node bars.

Node width

• Padding: Allocate space between the node bars and flows.

Padding

• Node spacing: Set the spacing between nodes of the same dimension.

Node spacing

• Opacity: Set the transparency for the nodes.

Opacity

1.4. Node color

Set a color to identify each dimension category.

Node colors

Additional formatting options

Here are the other settings that help you refine your Sankey chart.

Feature	Description	Link
Number	Configure number formatting (decimals, units)	Charts - number settings
Legend	Show/hide and customize the legends	Charts - legend settings
Data Label	Show exact values for each data point	3.6. Data label customizations
Trellis	Create small multiples using category split	6. Trellis customizations
Conditional Formatting	Apply color rules to highlight values	9. Conditional formatting
Sorting	Sort axis order	Sorting data
Ranking	Limit to top/bottom N categories	Ranking for charts