The usual spreadsheet of MS excel is in a form of the table that consists of rows and columns. There can be millions of data cells in a single spreadsheet. So it can be difficult for the user to find any specific information from these several data cells. Usually, at workplaces the employees have to analyze and prepare summaries of key business metrics from huge sets of data. Hence, there is a lot of workload in this case.
In order to make things less complicated, the most effective solution is to use pivot tables in MS Excel. The Pivot table is an amazing tool for summarizing the data that makes the process of data refining simple and easy. Moreover, the results of the summarized information are displayed in a clear manner.
This powerful tool also helps the user to identify the patterns in Excel spreadsheets and also the significance is extracted by summarizing the whole information in tables. Although, pivot tables looks very complicated at first glance the reality is that they are very easy to use. The user can perform the tasks easily by simply using the drag-drop buttons. Pivot tables are not at all time consuming and the user does not need to use any complicated formulas.
Apart from MS Excel, the user can also create pivot table by using some other software programs such as LibreOffice and Google Docs. Furthermore, in order to preserve content, the user can convert Excel to PDF by using any good PDF converter such as Classic PDF. PDF format is universal; hence, it can be read easily on any device. The user can also share the PDF files with others without getting worried about the security of documents as this format is more secure. So it is recommended to convert spreadsheets of MS Excel into PDF.
Table of Contents
BASICS OF PIVOT TABLES:-
Complicated analysis of data can be performed by using Excel. But for this you must be familiar with different functionalities of Pivot Table. In this article, you can learn that how the pivot table can be used.
Design of PIVOT TABLE
Before understanding the features of pivot table, let’s start with the basic structure and design of the table. Every pivot table has its own fields and layout.
Fields
The headers of the columns that are present in the table are known as fields. These can be found in the field list.
The layout of pivot table consists of four major areas:
- Filters– These are used to apply filter on the whole table.
- Columns– with the help of this option, the filter can be applied on one or more columns.
- Rows– can be used to apply filter to one or more rows in the table.
- Values– The data that is required to be analyzed is shown in this area.
customization of excel PIVOT TABLES
It is a perfect idea to choose pivot tables when you have to answer any specific question.
Let’s take an example of a manager who has asked a question mentioned below:
“Who is the best performing marketing executive?”
Pivot table can help us to find this out.
REARRANGING the spreadsheet DATA
First of all, the data in the spreadsheet must be added and rearranged in order to find out that which the marketing executive has implemented the most effective marketing communication campaigns. In the layout areas that are defined above, we need to add the related fields.
- Add Product field into Row Labels area
- Add Marketing executive field into the Column Labels area
- Add Total marketing campaigns field into Values area
SORTING out DATA
If you are working with small spreadsheets then the task is easier. For example, if we are analyzing a small piece of data, and we come to know that executive A is the best performer whereas executive X is the lowest on the list.
But this is not the case if you are dealing with a huge spreadsheet. In this scenario, the data must be sorted our first. This can be done by following the steps given below:
- In pivot table, select the option of one sum value
- Now right click on the option and click on Sort>Sort Smallest to Largest or vice versa
FORMATTING PIVOT TABLE
You can also change the appearance of your pivot table. You can choose any design of your choice. The procedure for selecting the design of your choice is given below:
- Click on Pivot Table Tools and then select Design
- Here in PivotTable Styles list you can find different designs so form here you can choose any one of them for your table.
FILTERING DATA of the table
Consider an example that the manager is happy to know that marketing executive A is the best executive but he may ask for additional information such as:
“Which executive performed the best in Singapore campaign?”
For answering this question we need further filtering of the data. This can be done by adding State field to the area of Filters:
- In the field menu of the pivot table, drag the State field to the area of filters.
- In the State drop-down menu select Singapore campaign
By doing this we can summarize the information that out of all the executives, the executive D was the topper in the Singapore campaign. Similarly, you can create any other report by following the above-mentioned steps. You just need to apply filters according to the asked query.
CONCLUSION
These are some basic tips and tricks that you must know for using Pivot Tables in Microsoft Excel. In order to preserve the information of pivot table the user can convert Excel file to PDF by using any good PDF-Dateien konvertieren (PDF converter). Apart from this, there are many other advanced functionalities of Pivot Table such as you can also make charts and slicers in pivot tables. If you have any question or if you want to add any information related to the topic, please feel free to comment in the box below.