Create and maintain in-cell sparklines in ONLYOFFICE

Quick answer

Select a data block, choose Insert > Sparkline, and place one small chart beside each row. Use a common vertical scale when comparing magnitudes across rows; the default individual scales emphasize each row’s shape instead.

Prepare the comparison

This guide follows the English ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors 10.0.0 interface and current official sparkline help. Start with a practice XLSX workbook. Enter labels Small and Large in A2:A3, period headings P1 through P4 in B1:E1, and Trend in F1. Enter 10, 20, 30, 20 in B2:E2 and 100, 200, 300, 200 in B3:E3.

The second series is exactly ten times the first at every position. Both rise, peak in period 3, then fall. A useful sparkline must communicate the intended comparison: common shape, different magnitude, or both. Keep the numbers alongside it because sparklines do not replace precise values.

Insert the group and choose a scale

1. Select B2:E3. Open Insert > Sparkline and choose Line.
2. In Create Sparklines, verify the data range B2:E3 and set the location to F2:F3. Confirm with OK. Each destination cell should represent its corresponding source row, not a column or the whole table combined.
3. Click a sparkline cell to open Sparkline settings on the right sidebar. Turn on High Point and Last Point to make the peak and ending position easier to locate.
4. Open Show advanced settings and inspect Axis Options. The default Auto for Each uses the individual row’s minimum and maximum, so these two proportional series can look almost identical.
5. Set both the vertical minimum and maximum policies to Same for All for the group. The common range now covers 10 through 300. The Small row should occupy much less vertical space than the Large row.

The two policies are not alternative calculations. They display the same eight values with different visual scales. Tell readers which comparison the report uses, especially if they could mistake similar-looking lines for equal performance.

Handle missing and negative values deliberately

Change C2 from 20 to an empty cell. In Show advanced settings > Type & Data, inspect Show empty cells as. Gaps shows the missing observation, Zero treats it visually as zero, and Connect data points with line joins across it for Line sparklines. Choose Gaps if the observation is unknown rather than zero, then restore C2=20 when finished.

Next change B2 to -10, enable Negative Point and Show axis, and inspect the result. The source range now includes a value below zero; this is a useful check that the scale and markers communicate a loss rather than hiding it. Restore B2=10. If source columns are hidden in your real report, explicitly inspect Show data in hidden rows and columns instead of assuming hidden data is included.

Maintain or remove the right object

A sparkline’s size follows its cell size. Widen F or increase row height if the indicator is too small; do not alter data values to improve its shape. Fixed axis bounds are useful only when chosen intentionally: the documentation says values beyond the fixed limits are not displayed. An absent peak can therefore be a scale problem rather than missing source data.

First save and reopen the intact workbook to inspect group scaling and the missing-value policy. For an optional removal test, save a separate copy so the main workbook retains both indicators. In that test copy, select a sparkline cell, right-click, and choose Sparklines > Clear Selected Sparklines. Clear the Selected Sparkline Groups removes the group instead. Check which scope you selected and verify that B2:E3 still contains the eight original numbers. Return to the intact master when you need the two-row comparison. Use combination and scatter charts when readers need full axes or a numeric X relationship.

Sources and verification

Official documentation snapshots retrieved on 20 October 2026 support the procedures above. The worked checks are independently reasoned expectations, not a report of native application testing. Save/reopen, rendering and platform behavior remain checks for the stated installation.

• InsertSparklines
• InsertTab