Tuesday's Tip #20 - SUPER Simple Pivot Tables in Excel are for EVERY Excel User
Tuesday's Tip: Pivot Tables made SUPER EASY!
I've trained thousands of people in Excel - all levels and I can tell you almost everyone is intimidated by Pivot Tables. Today's blog post has just 1 goal: if you use Excel - you need to know how to create a Pivot Table. It's so much easier than you think - so check it out.
First - When and Why should you use a Pivot Table?
Talking to people - I've learned one of the big reasons for users not learning or using Pivot Tables is they think they don't need them. So here's the deal, if you use Excel even a little - you need to know how to create a Pivot Table. They are for everyone. sure, you can use them for really complex things - but most people will use them to create super simple summaries of data....daily.
If someone sends me some data - often times - one of the first things I do is create a Pivot Table to see how much data I have, how diverse it is, how many categories of information etc. It helps me understand the high level summary information about the data.
Step 1: Setup your Data
This means just take a quick look at your data and see if it's ready for a Pivot Table. It's super simple:
- Make sure there are no blank columns/rows
- Make sure the headings are unique
Here's an example of the data I'll be using as our example. 
Step 2: Create the Pivot Table
This is so much easier than you think. Simply click on any cell in your data and click Insert...Pivot Table on your ribbon in Excel.
On the next screen, just verify the data range is right and click OK.
Select your Pivot Table Fields
All you need to do is check the fields your interested in.
Your Pivot table will look like this.
Remember, if you haven't taken me free course - 3 Excel Tips to Super Charge your Excel Skills - you can take it here.
AND, if you love these tips and tricks and can't get enough - here's a link to my course:
20 Amazing Tricks and Hacks you Need to Master Excel
Your Excel Guru
Kari
