How to Create a Sparklines in Excel – Download Templates

Sparklines are miniature curves that can be contained within a single cell. Microsoft Excel introduced this in 2010. Sparklines are specially used for visualizing trends in individual rows and columns. Unlike other charts in Excel, this tiny chart is not acting as a large object. Simply, sparklines in Excel remain contained within a single cell. In this article, we will demonstrate how to create Sparklines, the types of Sparklines, and the customization of sparklines.

Types of sparklines:

There are three types of Sparklies in Microsoft Excel

• Line
• Column
• Win-loss

In terms of visualization and purpose, those sparklines are distinct.

Purposes of Line Sparklines

When dealing with randomly fluctuating data and needing a graphical representation of trending data, you can use Line Sparklines.

Assume you want to create line-sparklines of different selling quantities at different times of the year.

Purposes of Column Sparklines

A series of data points will be shown as bar charts.

Let’s see the column sparklines for the data chart given above

Purposes of Win-Loss Sparklines

Similar to Line Sparklies, Win-Loss Sparklines show data as bar charts. However, do not display the magnitudes of the data on the same side of the axis. Win-Loss sparklines, like divergent chat, show the bar on the opposite side of the axis for negative data, with the axis at zero.

Steps to create aLine Sparklinesin Excel

Step 01: Select the output cell, where you want to Place the sparklines

Step 02: Click on the “Insert” tab. Then click on Line Sparklines

Step 03: Select the data range 

Step 04: Click on “Ok” or Press enter and AutoFill the remaining cell in the column

Similarly, you can create the “column” and “win-loss” sparklines. Just click on the Column or Win-Loss sparklines in sted of Line Sparklines at step 02

Customizing Sparklines:

Changing Colors:

Step 01: Click on the sparklines; you have already created

Step 02: Click on the sparkline tab

Step 03: You can select as many colors as you want from the style section.

Inserting High low point

Repeat the previous Steps 01 & 02 

From the Show section, check-in High point and Low point

Inserting Axis

From the “Sparkline Axis” option Click on “Show Axis.”

Now negative data points will be displayed on the lower side of the axis.

Inserting axis, line sparklines and column sparklines can give the same result as Win-Loss Sparklines. 

Sparkline sizes: 

It’s really cool that you don’t need to make sparklines larger manually. It always fits on your cell. If you make cells larger, sparklines get larger.

Deleting Sparklies:

Your sparklines will not be deleted if you press the Delete key on your keyboard.

To delete sparklines,

Step 01: Click on the cell containing Sparklines. Then Select the ‘’sparklines” tab

Step 02: From Sparklines tab, click on the “Clear” option.

Step 04: Click on ‘’Clear selected Sparkline’’

Display or Hidden empty cells:

Step 01: Click on the sparklines containing cells.

Step 02: Navigate to the “Sparklines” tab.

Step 03: Then click on “Edit data’’

Step 04: Select ‘’Hidden and Empty” cells

Step 05: Then a new dialogue box will open. Here you will see three option

If you click the Gaps, Zero, or connect the data points with a line- the result is shown below

To show Empty cells click on ‘’Show data in hidden rows and columns”.