Creating Sparklines

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 6, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365

Excel 2010 introduced a new feature referred to as sparklines. They are nothing more than miniature charts that can appear inside a single cell. The graphs aren't as varied and full-featured as regular Excel charts, but they are pretty cool, nonetheless. They are especially good for showing, at a glance, the general trend of the numbers in a range of cells.

To create a sparkline, follow these steps:

  1. Select the cell where you want the sparkline to appear.
  2. Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
  3. In the Sparklines group, click whichever type of sparkline you want to appear: Line, Column, or Win/Loss. (Each of these represents a different type of chart.) Excel displays the Create Sparklines dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

    4. Figure 1. The Create Sparkline dialog box.

  4. Specify, in the Data Range box, the range you want charted in the sparkline.
  5. Click OK.

You should see your sparkline appear immediately in the cell you specified in step 1.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (12588) applies to Microsoft Excel 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Appearance of Excel on the Taskbar

Do you want Excel to use a task button, on the Windows Taskbar, for each of your open worksheets? Then just make this ...

Discover More

Out of Memory Errors when Accessing the VBA Editor

It can be frustrating when you get error messages doing something that you previously did with no errors. If you get an ...

Discover More

Using Documents after a Server Move

Word documents can be interrelated with each other, particularly when you are dealing with templates. Move the templates ...

Discover More

Solve Real Business Problems Master business modeling and analysis techniques with Excel and transform data into bottom-line results. This hands-on, scenario-focused guide shows you how to use the latest Excel tools to integrate data from multiple tables. Check out Microsoft Excel 2013 Data Analysis and Business Modeling today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Excel Charts in PowerPoint

A common place to use Excel charts is in your PowerPoint presentations. How you paste those charts into the presentation ...

Discover More

RGB Values for Automatic Colors

When you create a chart, Excel automatically assigns different colors to the various data series in the chart. At some ...

Discover More

Plotting Times of Day

Got a chart created from your worksheet? You can plot times of day in the chart if you apply the simple techniques in ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 8 + 8?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2023 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.