ONLYOFFICE Spreadsheet Editor · Charts and visualization · Intermediate
Create and Check a Chart in ONLYOFFICE
Create a comparison chart, check its categories and series, and update its range when a new month arrives.
Documentation-qualified; native execution and save/reopen checks pending · Editorial standards
Quick answer
Select the source table and insert a clustered column chart. Use Chart Design → Select Data to verify categories and series, then check labels, a zero-based value axis and the source range after adding a month. Chart Design is the documented 9.4-and-later interface.
A chart is trustworthy when its categories and series can be checked against a small source table. Build one comparison chart, add a month, then audit the expanded source rather than relying on appearance alone.
Version and practice file
These instructions target ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors 10.0.0 on Linux with an English interface and a local XLSX workbook. The desktop changelog records that release on 13 October 2026. The release announcement identifies Linux support but says updated Snap, Flatpak and AppImage packages would follow later; check your installed version rather than assuming every distribution package has updated.
The menu names below were checked against current first-party help on 19 October 2026. This example has not been executed in the native application, and there are no application screenshots or verified save/reopen results. Expected results are independent checks for you to perform. Hosted collaboration, mobile interfaces and other desktop builds are outside this guide’s tested scope.
Prepare the chart data
Create a worksheet named Monthly in monthly-chart.xlsx. Enter the following cells in A1:C5:
| Month | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
January |
12 |
15 |
February |
16 |
15 |
March |
14 |
15 |
April |
20 |
15 |
The Actual total is 62; Target totals 60. Those totals are useful checks but are not additional categories. Keep any total formulas outside A1:C5. The month labels are text categories, so there is no date-locale dependency in this exercise. Save the XLSX workbook.
Insert and identify the series
On Monthly, select A1:C5, then use Insert → Chart → Column Charts → Clustered column. Choose the ordinary two-dimensional style. With the chart selected, open Chart Design → Select Data. The chart documentation describes these controls; the desktop changelog records the move to Chart Design in version 9.4.
Check four categories, January through April, and two series named Actual and Target. The Actual series must contain 12, 16, 14, 20; Target must contain 15, 15, 15, 15. If months appear as four series, correct the range/orientation using Switch Row/Column, then recheck both names and values. A correct orientation leaves source rows unchanged.
Use clustered columns because Actual and Target are separate measurements for each month. Stacked columns would visually add them, although 12 + 15 is not a meaningful order count here. A 100% stacked chart would answer a proportion question rather than this count comparison. These are chart-design choices for this dataset, not software limitations.
Make the chart readable
Use Chart Elements to show the title, legend and data labels. In advanced settings, use a non-overlapping title, place the legend below the plot, and use value labels above the columns. Select the default chart-title text and replace it with Monthly orders: actual and target. In the vertical-axis settings use a zero minimum and a maximum of 25 for this example; verify the unit is orders rather than percent. The documented chart settings include axis bounds and layout controls, but exact rendering still needs the on-screen checks below.
Expect eight bars: January Actual below Target; February above; March below; April above. Labels should show four Target values of 15. Ensure the two series remain visually distinguishable without depending on red versus green alone. Keep the legend because the series share categories and otherwise cannot be reliably identified.
Extend and test the source link
Enter May, 18, 15 in A6:C6. Inspect the chart before changing its range. A static reference to rows 1–5 excludes May; do not assume that an adjacent new row is automatically added. Open Select Data, extend the complete source to Monthly!$A$1:$C$6, and confirm.
The expected result is five month categories and ten bars. Actual now totals 80; Target totals 75. Change March Actual in B4 from 14 to 17. The March Actual bar should cross above the unchanged target 15; the new Actual total is 83. Inspect the original source cell if the picture does not update, then verify the selected chart still refers to this worksheet and range.
Edge cases and final checkpoint
Do not add a grand-total row to the category range: it would create an oversized sixth bar group that is not another month. Do not replace a missing measurement with zero merely to fill a gap; unknown and zero are different facts, and this tutorial does not assert a particular missing-value plotting policy. Recreate numeric entries as numbers if they were pasted as text.
Save, close and reopen monthly-chart.xlsx. Recheck five categories, Actual values 12, 16, 17, 20, 18, Target values 15 throughout, and the displayed title, legend and zero-based axis. Inspect Select Data as well as the picture. The saved final state deliberately retains March at 17 and May in the source range.
For an optional comparison, save a separate monthly-chart-types.xlsx copy and change chart type there. Keep the original comparison chart intact instead of relying on Undo after reopening.