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Create An Excel Chart In PHP Using PHPSpreadSheet

Add a real, editable column chart to an Excel file with PhpSpreadsheet — point a DataSeries at your cells, anchor the Chart on the sheet, and remember setIncludeCharts(true).

July 25, 2026

This article shows how to create an Excel chart with the latest version of PhpSpreadsheet. We write a small table of monthly sales, then create a column chart from those cells and embed it in the same worksheet — a real, editable Excel chart, not a picture pasted on top.

Charts take a few classes because a chart has a few parts. DataSeriesValues points at the cells for the values, the category labels, and the series name. DataSeries bundles those together and sets the chart type — TYPE_BARCHART drawn in the column direction. PlotArea, Legend and Title describe how it looks, and Chart ties them into one object that addChart() anchors onto the sheet. The one easy-to-miss step is telling the writer to include it: setIncludeCharts(true).

A chart turns a column of numbers into something a reader takes in at a glance, which is exactly what a spreadsheet is often built to deliver. Once the wiring makes sense, switching from columns to a line or a pie chart is a one-constant change — so build this one first, then reshape it.

Requirements to create an Excel chart:

Step 1.

First, set up the dependencies. Here we pin the latest major release of PhpSpreadsheet (the 5.x line).

composer.json
{
    "require": {
        "phpoffice/phpspreadsheet": "^5.0"
    }
}

Step 2.

Next, install phpspreadsheet.

command line
$ composer install

Step 3.

Then create a new PHP file. Load Composer’s autoloader and import the classes the chart is built from.

create-chart.php
<?php

require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Spreadsheet;
use \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Writer\Xlsx;
use \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Chart\Chart;
use \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Chart\DataSeries;
use \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Chart\DataSeriesValues;
use \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Chart\Legend;
use \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Chart\PlotArea;
use \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Chart\Title;

Step 4.

Write the data the chart will plot. A chart never holds its own numbers — it points at cells — so the table has to exist first.

create-chart.php
$spreadsheet = new Spreadsheet();
$worksheet = $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet();
$worksheet->setTitle('Sales');

// The data the chart plots.
$worksheet->fromArray([
    ['Month', 'Sales'],
    ['Jan', 120],
    ['Feb', 145],
    ['Mar', 98],
    ['Apr', 172],
]);

Step 5.

Point at the cells with DataSeriesValues. One set for the category labels (the months in A2:A5), one for the values to plot (the sales in B2:B5), and one for the series name (the Sales header in B1, used in the legend).

create-chart.php
// The category axis — the Month labels.
$categories = [
    new DataSeriesValues(DataSeriesValues::DATASERIES_TYPE_STRING, 'Sales!$A$2:$A$5', null, 4),
];

// The values to plot — the Sales numbers.
$values = [
    new DataSeriesValues(DataSeriesValues::DATASERIES_TYPE_NUMBER, 'Sales!$B$2:$B$5', null, 4),
];

// The series name — the "Sales" header in B1.
$labels = [
    new DataSeriesValues(DataSeriesValues::DATASERIES_TYPE_STRING, 'Sales!$B$1', null, 1),
];

Step 6.

Now build the chart. First bundle the values into a DataSeries and set the type — TYPE_BARCHART with setPlotDirection(DIRECTION_COL) gives vertical columns. Then wrap it in a PlotArea, add a Legend and a Title, build the Chart, position it by its top-left and bottom-right cells, and attach it with addChart().

create-chart.php
// A bar chart, drawn as vertical columns.
$series = new DataSeries(
    DataSeries::TYPE_BARCHART,
    DataSeries::GROUPING_CLUSTERED,
    range(0, count($values) - 1),
    $labels,
    $categories,
    $values
);
$series->setPlotDirection(DataSeries::DIRECTION_COL);

$plotArea = new PlotArea(null, [$series]);
$legend = new Legend(Legend::POSITION_RIGHT, null, false);
$title = new Title('Monthly Sales');

$chart = new Chart('sales-chart', $title, $legend, $plotArea);

// Anchor the chart onto the worksheet.
$chart->setTopLeftPosition('D2');
$chart->setBottomRightPosition('J17');
$worksheet->addChart($chart);

Step 7.

Finally, save the file. The writer skips charts unless you ask for them, so call setIncludeCharts(true) before save() — forget it and the file opens with the data but no chart.

create-chart.php
// The writer only emits charts when told to.
$writer = new Xlsx($spreadsheet);
$writer->setIncludeCharts(true);
$writer->save('chart.xlsx');

echo "Done. Wrote chart.xlsx with a column chart.\n";

Complete code to create an Excel chart.

create-chart.php
<?php

require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Spreadsheet;
use \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Writer\Xlsx;
use \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Chart\Chart;
use \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Chart\DataSeries;
use \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Chart\DataSeriesValues;
use \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Chart\Legend;
use \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Chart\PlotArea;
use \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Chart\Title;

$spreadsheet = new Spreadsheet();
$worksheet = $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet();
$worksheet->setTitle('Sales');

// The data the chart plots.
$worksheet->fromArray([
    ['Month', 'Sales'],
    ['Jan', 120],
    ['Feb', 145],
    ['Mar', 98],
    ['Apr', 172],
]);

// The category axis — the Month labels.
$categories = [
    new DataSeriesValues(DataSeriesValues::DATASERIES_TYPE_STRING, 'Sales!$A$2:$A$5', null, 4),
];

// The values to plot — the Sales numbers.
$values = [
    new DataSeriesValues(DataSeriesValues::DATASERIES_TYPE_NUMBER, 'Sales!$B$2:$B$5', null, 4),
];

// The series name — the "Sales" header in B1.
$labels = [
    new DataSeriesValues(DataSeriesValues::DATASERIES_TYPE_STRING, 'Sales!$B$1', null, 1),
];

// A bar chart, drawn as vertical columns.
$series = new DataSeries(
    DataSeries::TYPE_BARCHART,
    DataSeries::GROUPING_CLUSTERED,
    range(0, count($values) - 1),
    $labels,
    $categories,
    $values
);
$series->setPlotDirection(DataSeries::DIRECTION_COL);

$plotArea = new PlotArea(null, [$series]);
$legend = new Legend(Legend::POSITION_RIGHT, null, false);
$title = new Title('Monthly Sales');

$chart = new Chart('sales-chart', $title, $legend, $plotArea);

// Anchor the chart onto the worksheet.
$chart->setTopLeftPosition('D2');
$chart->setBottomRightPosition('J17');
$worksheet->addChart($chart);

// The writer only emits charts when told to.
$writer = new Xlsx($spreadsheet);
$writer->setIncludeCharts(true);
$writer->save('chart.xlsx');

echo "Done. Wrote chart.xlsx with a column chart.\n";

Test creating an Excel chart.

Command line testing.

command line
$ php create-chart.php

Result of creating an Excel chart.

Running the script to create an Excel chart writes chart.xlsx. Opening it shows the four-row sales table on the left and, anchored beside it, a clustered column chart titled Monthly Sales with one column per month and a Sales legend — a live chart that updates if you edit the numbers.

command line
$ php create-chart.php
Done. Wrote chart.xlsx with a column chart.
Create an Excel chart: the chart.xlsx worksheet with the Month and Sales table in columns A and B, and beside it a column chart titled Monthly Sales showing four columns — Jan 120, Feb 145, Mar 98 and Apr 172 — with a Sales legend on the right.

References:

How to install PhpSpreadsheetOn this site
PhpSpreadsheet’s documentationphpspreadsheet.readthedocs.io
Chart, DataSeries, DataSeriesValues — Chartsphpspreadsheet.readthedocs.io
setIncludeCharts() — Reading and writing to filephpspreadsheet.readthedocs.io