Column and bar charts in Google Sheets - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Sample Data

Monthly sales data for four months

Cell	Value
A1	Month
B1	Sales
A2	Jan
B2	100
A3	Feb
B3	150
A4	Mar
B4	120
A5	Apr
B5	180

Formula Trace

SPARKLINE(B2:B5, {"charttype", "column"})

Step 1: B2:B5

Step 2: {"charttype", "column"}

Step 3: SPARKLINE([100, 150, 120, 180], {"charttype": "column"})

Cell Reference Map

    A      B
1 |Month |Sales
2 | Jan  | 100 
3 | Feb  | 150 
4 | Mar  | 120 
5 | Apr  | 180 

Formula references B2:B5 for sales data.

The formula uses the sales data in cells B2 to B5 to create the column chart.

Result

    A      B           C
1 |Month |Sales | Sparkline
2 | Jan  | 100  | ▇▇ ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇
3 | Feb  | 150  | 
4 | Mar  | 120  | 
5 | Apr  | 180  | 

Column chart bars in cell C2 represent sales heights.

The SPARKLINE formula in cell C2 shows a column chart with bars proportional to sales values.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What does the range B2:B5 represent in the formula?

A Months names

B Sales data for four months

C Chart options

D Empty cells

Key Result

SPARKLINE(range, {"charttype", "column"}) creates a small column chart from the range values.