Show Data Trends with Tiny Sparkline Charts in Microsoft Excel 2010

Provided by Molly Pell, Senior Systems Analyst

A new feature in Microsoft Excel 2010 lets you insert tiny charts, or Sparklines, into worksheet cells. Sparklinkes are a powerful way to show a quick snapshot of data trends.

To insert a Sparkline:

• Select the cell where you want to insert the mini chart.
• On the Insert tab of the Ribbon, choose the desired Sparkline type in the Sparklines group:

• In the Data box, type the range of the cells that contain the data on which to base the Sparkline:

After you insert the Sparkline, a new tab appears on the Ribbon. The Sparkline Tools tab allows you to select from a variety of formatting options, including the chart type, colors and styles, etc.

Example

Click to download sparklines.zip (10.K)

Microsoft Resource

• Use sparklines to show data trends
• Sparklines: Use tiny charts to show data trends

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