What is One Excel Pivot Table “Trick” That is Helpful but Not Used Often?

One helpful but often underutilized trick in Excel pivot tables is the Group By feature. This feature allows you to present your data in different ways beyond simple sums or counts, which can provide deeper insights. Whether you are dealing with sales data, customer information, or any categorical dataset, mastering the Group By feature can significantly enhance your data analysis.

How to Use the Group By Feature in Excel Pivot Tables

Create a Pivot Table: Start by selecting your data and inserting a pivot table. This step is crucial as it sets the foundation for exploring your dataset.

Add Values: Drag a field to the Values area of the pivot table. This step prepares your data for further manipulation.

Access Value Field Settings: Click on the drop-down arrow next to the field in the Values area to access further settings. This is where the Group By feature comes into play.

Apply Group By: Within the Value Field Settings, choose Show Values As. From the dialog that appears, select the Group By option and specify the range of data points you want to group. This could be by day, week, month, or any other relevant interval.

Example Use Case: Analyzing Sales Contributions

If you have sales data and want to analyze how each product contributes to total sales, the Group By feature can be particularly useful. For instance, you might group by product category. This will show the percentage contribution of each category to the total sales, providing valuable context and aiding in data-driven decision-making.

Drill Down for More Details

Drill Down: Another underutilized feature in pivot tables is the ability to drill down to see the data behind a summarized value. Simply double-click on that value to get the full set of data that backs up that number. Excel will generate a sheet that contains all those records connected to that summarized value. This option is generally termed Drill Down in Pivot Table.

Drill Down Steps: When you drill down to get data from a pivot table, the generated sheets are completely unconnected to the pivot table and its source data. These sheets can be copied, moved, or deleted without affecting the pivot table.

Show Details: Customizing Your Analysis

A third underutilized trick is the Show Details option. In the example of a table breaking down retail and wholesale sales made by several salespeople, if you right-click on the Grand Total of one of the salespeople and choose Show Details, Excel will create a new sheet with all of that person's data. This new sheet shows all the records used for that total.

Show Details Shortcut: A shortcut for right-clicking and selecting Show Details is to double-click on the cell instead.

By leveraging these underutilized features of Excel pivot tables, you can significantly enhance your data analysis and decision-making capabilities. These techniques can help you uncover hidden patterns, trends, and insights, making your data more meaningful and actionable.