📎 This article includes 2 downloadable practice files ↓
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| Technique | How | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Sparklines | Insert > Sparklines > Line, data B2:B13, location B15 | Trend per row/column in a table |
| In-cell bars | =REPT("▇", ROUND(B2/5,0)) |
Quick bars that print anywhere |
| Trend arrow | =IF(E13>E2,"▲","▼") |
KPI tables |
| Heat map | Home > Conditional Formatting > Color Scales on B2:E13 | Spotting peaks in a grid |
The finished example has line sparklines under each region and a 3-colour scale on the whole table; November in North stands out at once.
💡 For sparklines, Sparkline > Axis > Same for all sparklines; otherwise each tiny chart has its own scale and small regions look as volatile as big ones.
Practice
The practice workbook has the data and the helper formulas behind the chart (with automatic checks). Build the chart yourself, then open the finished examples file to compare. Excel built those charts and we checked their types and series.
📎 Practice files for this article
⬇ Download all 2 files (ZIP · 37 KB)
- 📗Practice workbookRegion x month sales table, 5 tasks.⬇ XLSX · 13 KB
- 📗Finished chart examplesCombo, waterfall, dynamic, actual-vs-target, sparklines and heat map, built by Excel.⬇ XLSX · 35 KB
Free to use for learning. Files with macros (.bas) are plain text — import them with Alt+F11 → File → Import File, and always test on a copy.
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