Fishbone diagram maker

How to make a fishbone diagram

1. Write the problem in The problem, as an effect you can observe: "Orders ship late", not "We need more staff".
2. In Categories and causes, type one category per line with no indent. Or pick a set (6 Ms, 4 Ps, 8 Ps, 4 Ss) and tap Use these bones.
3. Under each category, indent the causes you can think of; ask "why does this happen?" of each, and indent the answer one step more as a sub-cause.
4. Tap any box on the diagram to reword it, tap a category to change its colour or add a cause.
5. Save it as PNG for slides, SVG for design programs or PDF to print on one landscape page, or Copy as outline for a report. It stays saved in this browser; a share link sends a copy.

For example, this list draws two bones, one above the spine and one below, with three causes and one sub-cause:

Machine
  Label printer jams
    Ribbon runs out mid-shift
Method
  Picking list printed once a day
  No check before the truck leaves

How the layout works

The first category goes above the spine, the second below, the third above again, and so on; each pair shares a column, and the columns run from the tail towards the head on the right. Each cause is a box to the left of its bone, joined to it by a short rib, and its sub-causes sit indented under it. Causes stack one under another in the order you typed them, every box is kept a fixed gap clear of the slanted bone, and each column starts only where the widest part of the one before it ends, so no two boxes can overlap. Words wrap inside a box about 25 characters wide; a single word longer than that is broken across lines.

The category sets and where they come from

• 6 Ms (manufacturing): Machine, Method, Material, Manpower (people), Measurement, Mother nature (environment). From Wikipedia, "Ishikawa diagram" (the 5 Ms, plus mother nature from its 8 Ms) and the French "Diagramme de causes et effets" (the 6M), both read 2026-10-23.
• 4 Ps (marketing): Product, Price, Place, Promotion, E. Jerome McCarthy's 1960 marketing mix, as given in Wikipedia, "Marketing mix", read 2026-10-23.
• 8 Ps (marketing and services): Product (or service), Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, Physical evidence, Performance, from Wikipedia, "Ishikawa diagram", read 2026-10-23.
• 4 Ss (service): Surroundings, Suppliers, Systems, Skills, from the same article, which also lists Safety as a fifth S; add it as a line if it matters to you.

A set is only a prompt for brainstorming. Rename, delete or add bones freely; the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' fishbone guide for nursing homes (read 2026-10-23), for instance, suggests equipment or supply, environment, rules/policy/procedure and people/staff.

What it cannot do

• No more than 3 levels (category, cause, sub-cause) or about 120 causes: up to 12 categories and 120 causes and sub-causes together. Deeper lines are drawn as sub-causes and the page says so.
• No free-form drawing: you cannot drag boxes or bones to other places; the layout is automatic.
• No live collaboration: two people cannot edit the same diagram at once, because that needs a server and this page has none. Send a share link and each person gets their own copy.
• It does not suggest causes or pick the root cause; it draws what you type.
• The PDF uses Helvetica, so letters outside Western European alphabets (and emoji) make it put the diagram in as a picture instead of text. A big diagram on one page gets small text: 6 categories of 8 causes print at about 60 % of screen size on A4.
• One diagram is saved on this device; private browsing or clearing site data removes it. A share link over 2,000 characters may be cut by some chat apps, and the page tells you the length.

Privacy and what is stored

Nothing you type leaves your device. The page sends an anonymous page-view count and, when you first edit or when you export, one of two fixed words (fish-make, fish-export), never your text. Your diagram is kept in this browser's local storage as you type, and Clear saved diagram removes it in one tap. A share link carries the diagram after the #, which browsers do not send to any server; opening one shows it as a copy and saves nothing until you tap Save this copy on this device. The PDF library (pdf-lib, MIT licence) is loaded from this site only when you first ask for a PDF.

Questions

Is this fishbone diagram maker free, with no sign-up?

Yes. There is no account, no trial and no watermark. The diagram is drawn in your browser and kept in this browser's storage; nothing you type is sent anywhere.

What is the difference between a fishbone, an Ishikawa and a cause and effect diagram?

None: they are three names for the same chart. Kaoru Ishikawa popularised it for quality work in Japan in the 1960s; the problem (the effect) sits at the head, the main categories of causes are the large bones, and the individual causes hang off each bone.

Which categories should I use?

Use the ones that fit your problem. The common starting sets are the 6 Ms for manufacturing, the 4 Ps or 8 Ps for marketing and the 4 Ss for service work, listed above with their sources. Pick one to fill in the bones, then rename, delete or add to them.

Can I put a fishbone diagram in Word, PowerPoint or Google Docs?

Yes. Download the PNG (drawn at twice screen size) and insert it as a picture, or the SVG where the program accepts SVG so it stays sharp. The PDF is one landscape A4 or Letter page for printing. Copy as outline gives the same content as a bulleted list to paste into a document or slide.

How many causes can one diagram hold?

Up to 12 categories and 120 causes and sub-causes together, three levels deep. Around 6 categories of 5 to 8 causes is what still reads well on one printed page; past that the PDF shrinks the text to fit.