How to use the PivotTable Fields pane in Microsoft Excel

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You can create a PivotTable in Excel from an external data source, a table in your worksheet, or a pre-built data model. To access these options, in the Insert tab on the ribbon, click the “PivotTable” down arrow. As you add a field to an area in the PivotTable Fields pane, you’ll see the PivotTable being constructed in real time.

Opening the PivotTable Fields pane

However, understanding the often confusing PivotTable Fields pane is essential to making the most of this powerful feature. Help your students connect and achieve more together, whether in the classroom, at home, or around the globe online with collaborative tools. Spark creativity and collaboration in any learning environment with a variety of Microsoft 365 apps and free templates to choose from.

In my case, I want to analyze an Excel table (named T_Sales) I created in an Excel worksheet, and I want to do so in a new worksheet to keep my workbook tidy and organized. So, after selecting a cell in the table, I’ll click “From Table Or Range” in the PivotTable drop-down menu. Then, after making sure the correct range is selected, I’ll check “New Worksheet,” and click “OK.”

What are PivotTables in Microsoft Excel?

Usually, non-numeric fields are added to the Rows area, date and time fields are added to the Columns area, and numeric fields are added to the Values area. What’s more, when you use this method, there’s no way for Excel to know which field to add to the Filters area. By default, the fields (labeled A in the screenshot below) are stacked on top of the areas (labeled B in the screenshot below).

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• As you add a field to an area in the PivotTable Fields pane, you’ll see the PivotTable being constructed in real time.
• Create equitable learning environments that help students develop knowledge with familiar apps essential to both academic and future career success.
• In my case, I want to analyze an Excel table (named T_Sales) I created in an Excel worksheet, and I want to do so in a new worksheet to keep my workbook tidy and organized.
• On the other hand, you can change the PivotTable’s visual properties via the Design tab, such as adding subtotals, formatting the data into banded rows, or changing the colors of the headers.

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• The Microsoft 365 Copilot app brings together your favorite apps and Copilot in one intuitive platform.
• Anyone in your organization can quickly create documents, presentations, and worksheets within a single, unified app experience.
• To access these options, in the Insert tab on the ribbon, click the “PivotTable” down arrow.
• Usually, non-numeric fields are added to the Rows area, date and time fields are added to the Columns area, and numeric fields are added to the Values area.
• If your source dataset is substantial, this layout makes everything appear overcrowded, especially if you’re working on a small screen.

If you find this confuses you more than it helps you, check “Defer Layout Update” at the bottom of the pane, and click “Update” once you’ve moved all the fields to the desired areas. Alternatively, dragging and dropping a field into an area gives you more control over what goes where. If you want to change which area a field is added to, simply drag and drop it to the appropriate place. For example, to remove the Department filter, click and drag “Department” from the Filters area to the left of the PivotTable Fields pane. When you check a checkbox next to a field, Excel automatically moves it to one of the areas according to the type of data the field contains.

Now that you have used the PivotTable Fields pane to build your PivotTable, use the PivotTable Analyze tab on the ribbon to manipulate and customize the data. For example, you can rename the PivotTable, group different fields, or insert slicers and timelines for dynamic filtering. On the other hand, you can change the PivotTable’s visual properties via the Design tab, such as adding subtotals, formatting the data into banded rows, or changing the colors of the headers. To remove a field from a PivotTable area, either uncheck the corresponding checkbox in the fields section or drag and drop a field from the areas section to anywhere outside the PivotTable Fields pane.

If your liteforex broker source dataset is substantial, this layout makes everything appear overcrowded, especially if you’re working on a small screen. Create equitable learning environments that help students develop knowledge with familiar apps essential to both academic and future career success. To move the PivotTable fields pane, hover your cursor over the top of the pane until it turns into a four-arrow move pointer, and click and drag the pane to a more convenient position on your screen as a floating window.

You can also click the same button if you don’t want the PivotTable Fields pane to be displayed by default. Indeed, it can be difficult to track specific information and understand relationships between data points if you have to scroll through thousands of rows and columns, even if you use the Freeze Panes or Focus Cell tools. To turn it back into the default pane, click and drag it to the right of your screen until it clicks back into position. The Microsoft 365 Copilot app brings together your favorite apps in one intuitive platform that keeps your data secure with enterprise data protection. Explore learning tools to collaborate on projects together and independently, all in one place.

Understanding the PivotTable Fields areas

Microsoft 365 empowers your organization to organize, and safely store files in OneDrive with intuitive and easy organizational tools. Microsoft 365 includes access to Office apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on up to five devices, 1 TB of OneDrive storage, and more. This pane usually opens by default on the right of your screen as soon as you initiate the PivotTable-building process. Microsoft Excel’s PivotTable tool is vital for drawing analyses from big datasets in just a few clicks.