understanding pivot tables in excel 2013

To see what we mean, let's choose a column from the top half. The only thing in the bottom section that you need to make a pivot table work is Values. You'll find that Rows, Columns, and Filters help to organize the data and information in the pivot table. Values are the crossover of the rows and columns. The bottom section contains the sections of your pivot table.įilters is the filter above the pivot table.

In the top section, you will see your columns listed. You will use this to create your pivot table. If you look to the far right side of the Excel window, you will see PivotTable Fields, as shown below. This is where your pivot table will start.

This is what you will see in a new worksheet: If you place it in the existing worksheet, you'll need to specify the location where you want to place it. It's recommended that you place it into a different worksheet, but the choice is ultimately yours. Next, decide if you want the new pivot table to appear in the existing worksheet (with your data) or in a new worksheet. You can compare the range of cells listed above with our worksheet, and you can see that all the data was included. Unless you need to change the range of cells, you do not need to enter anything into this field. In the Select a Table or Range field, Excel fills in the range of cells that contains your data. To start creating your pivot table, click within the data, then go to the Insert tab. Click the PivotTable button. In starting to create your own pivot table, you do not need to select or highlight data. The only way that you would be required to select data is if you had a blank column or row within your data. Of course, you wouldn't want that included in your pivot table, so you would select the data you did want included. We are going to use the same worksheet that we used when working with Recommended PivotTables. It is pictured below. The pivot table is then placed into a new sheet, as shown below. That pivot table is now visible in the right column. We have chosen the total price for each item. If you want to use one of these suggested pivot tables, simply click on the pivot tables in the column on the left. In the dialogue box, you will see Excel's recommended PivotTables.Īs you can see, in our recommended pivot tables, Excel summarizes the data by the price of each item, the total price, and the number of items. You will then see the Recommended PivotTables dialogue box. Go to the Insert tab, then click Recommended Pivot Tables in the Tables group. To see the recommended pivot tables, click anywhere in the worksheet. This worksheet is simply a list of items, the price for each item, the quantity sold, the total price, and then the date sold. Recommended Pivot Tables is a feature that is new to Excel 2013. With Recommended Pivot Tables, Excel analyzes the data that you have in your spreadsheet, then suggests possible pivot tables for you to use.

Understanding pivot tables in excel 2013