Knowing how to create a stack chart in Tableau is useful in comparing measures in a category.

I will use Tableau provided Sample-SuperStore.xls as my datasource.

Please visit how to connect to excel data source in Tableau  to learn about connecting to data.

Create a Bar chart using Region and Sales.

I get a bar chart as below

Let’s see how the chart will look, in case I have 2 Dimensions, say, Region and Year.

My chart will look like the one below. Place Region and OrderDate on the Columns and Sales on the Rows. Region is also placed on the Colors.

This chart is good because it shows how Sales in different Regions performed in each of the Years. This display is informative but still difficult to understand with Years repeating and Regions listed out separately for each of the Year.

It would be nice if we can see the how Sales is grouped by different Regions in a specific Year.

This can be done using a Stack chart.

From the “Show Me” on the right select Stack Chart. Above chart will be transformed as below

This chart is more useful because it shows how Sales is grouped by each Region in a Year.