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Excel Pivot Table Tips: Refreshing the Table After Source Data Changes

February 1, 2017 by Tyrone Pernsley

The pivot table in Excel is one of the most vital and versatile tools available. It allows you to look at your data from a wide range of customizable views. In the following guide, we explore how to update the Pivot Table after the source data changes.

There are a variety of reasons you might need to update the pivot table. Maybe you get a weekly report that needs to be added each week. Instead of recreating the pivot table, you can simply refresh it. Maybe there were errors in the source data that needed to be corrected. Again, it’s simpler to refresh than to recreate.

Let’s say you had the following spreadsheet:

Refreshing Pivot Table Image 1

And you created this pivot table for it:

Refreshing Pivot Table Image 2

Then your manager informs you of a price correction on the last 4 items. They went up $50 each. For such a minor correction, it would be a waste of time to create a whole new pivot table. Instead, you will:

  • Make the source data correction
  • Go to the tab with the pivot table
  • Go to the Data tab on the Excel ribbon
  • Select Refresh

Refreshing Pivot Table for New Data

You can also use the keyboard shortcut Alt+F5 to perform this task.

As you can see in the animation above, once you apply the refresh option, the data in the table automatically updates with the source data corrections.

We hope you now feel comfortable making corrections to your pivot table source data and applying the refresh. This is one of many tools available to help you perfect your pivot tables.

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Kevin – Learn Excel Now

Filed Under: Excel Tools Tagged With: corrections, excel, Excel 2013, Pivot tables, pivot tale refresh, pivot tale update

Sorting Data with Excel Pivot Tables

March 9, 2016 by Tyrone Pernsley

The Pivot Table is one of the most useful features in Excel. Sorting data with  Excel Pivot Tables allows you to examine your data from multiple points of view for better summary and analysis. You can sort data, count totals, averages, percentages, etc. In addition to giving you the ability to organize your data, Pivot Tables also makes your data more presentable.

Creating a PivotTable

Sorting Data with Excel Pivot Tables GIF 1

Once you have highlighted the data that you want in your Pivot Table report, go to the “Insert” tab and click on “Pivot Table.” You can then be able to choose to create the Pivot Table report on a new page or keep it on the same page as your data. The Pivot Table that is generated will be blank, so you have to pick which values you want and where you want them. You can arrange your data in rows or columns and include sums of different data series. To do this, you simply use the Pivot Table Field List on the right to drag and drop fields to the area where you want them to go. Your Pivot Table will then be generated and then you can sort and organize it.

PivotTable image1

Sorting Data

PivotTables can be used to organize and sort all kinds of data. Some examples include:

  • Alphabetically
  • Numerically
  • By dates and time

The options for selecting which data to look will be affected by the row and column labels in the original data set. For example, if you have a list of purchases and want to organize them by date, you can move the two column labels into the Pivot Table fields.

In the Pivot Table report, click on the drop-down arrow next to “Row Labels” or “Column Labels,” then select how you want your data to be sorted. If all of your values are words, you’ll be able to sort the data alphabetically from A to Z or from Z to A. For numeric values, you can sort it from smallest to largest or from largest to smallest. For times and dates, you can sort form oldest to newest or newest to oldest. You can also drag and move data to sort it in any way you want.

Sorting Data with Excel Pivot Tables GIF 2

Once you have your data organized into the proper fields, you can begin to summarize the findings for improved decision-making.

We here at Learn Excel Now hope you enjoyed this quick guide on sorting data with Pivot Tables. It is our desire to bring you the best advice and training available so you can effectively and efficiently use your Excel tools.

Liked this sorting data with Excel Pivot Tables quick tip? Have questions? Leave your comments below; we’d love to hear from you.

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Kevin – Learn Excel Now

Filed Under: Excel Tools Tagged With: customizing, Excel 2010, Pivot tables

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