A chart the size of a row
A sparkline (mini chart) lives in one cell. It shows a trend — seven days of spend, five grades in a row — without a chart that takes half a sheet. On a dashboard next to the number 120 Kč there can be a mini line: did it go up, or down?
Sheets: Insert → Sparkline. Excel: Insert → Sparklines (Line, Column, Win/Loss).
A mini chart on pocket money
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Sheet
Pocket. In E1 typeSpend trend. Leave E2 empty — the sparkline will be in E2 or in F1 as a “summary”. -
In F1 (or E2): Insert → Sparkline. Data range: C2:C8 (Spent by days). Type: Line. In Sheets select the range, confirm.
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In the cell you will see a curve. No legend, no axis — only a shape. Wednesday high? The mini chart shows it.
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A second sparkline in G1 from B2:B8 (In) — when money came in. Compare two mini charts next to each other.
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Change C5 to
0. The sparkline in F1 shortens or drops. The big chart on the sheet too — both from the same data.
Do not take a sparkline from ten columns at once — only one series (spend OR income). On the dashboard later one sparkline next to the spend total is enough. Readability in a small place.
A column sparkline
On a survey E2:E5 (counts) you can put in E6 a column sparkline from E2:E5 — four tiny columns in one cell. Useful on a dashboard: “the shape of the vote” without copying a big chart.
Win/Loss sparkline: 1 = up, -1 = down, 0 = flat. On D2:D8 (Left) you can make formula =IF(D2>=0,1,-1) in a helper column and a sparkline from it — green/red days without a big chart.
What often goes wrong
An empty cell in the range. The sparkline has a hole. Fill days with a zero, not empty.
Text in the range. A sparkline wants numbers. twenty does not work.
A sparkline from the whole of column C:C. It takes the heading and the total too. Only C2:C8.
🏫 Grade average — a series in a cell
B2:B6 as a sparkline in B9 (under the average). You will see if grades “fall” toward the last subject — more a toy than a must. The average in B8 stays the main number.
💰 Pocket money — a trend next to a total
Next to =SUM(C2:C8) put a sparkline from C2:C8. The number says how much in total, the curve says how it went. Dashboard: a total + a mini chart = two pieces of info in little space.
📊 Class survey — mini columns
A sparkline from E2:E5 next to the text “roll leads”. It is not a stand-in for a big chart in a report — there still a PNG. On a dashboard a mini preview is enough.
🏆 Mini dashboard — a sparkline
One cell with a spend trend under the pocket money total. The big grades chart stays a picture. A sparkline = a third layer, not the first.
Now you 💪
First: a spend sparkline C2:C8 in one cell.
Second: an income sparkline B2:B8 next to it. Change one day — both must move.
Check: The sparkline takes only the data range. After a spend change the mini chart updates. The big chart still fits.
What to take from this lesson
- A sparkline = a trend in one cell. Insert → Sparkline, a range of numbers.
- Pocket money: a spend or income line. Survey: a column mini chart.
- Dashboard: a number + a sparkline = a lot of info in little space.
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