The 5 Best Excel Pivot Table Shortcuts You Need To Know

Struggling to use pivot tables in Excel? You’re not alone. Knowing the right shortcuts can make all the difference in quickly creating and managing comprehensive pivot tables. Here are the 5 best pivot table shortcuts you need to know.

Excel Pivot Table Shortcuts You Must Know

As an Excel fan, I’m always on the lookout for simpler ways to work and save time. One terrific tool is the pivot table. Even experienced Excel users may not know all the shortcuts available. I’ll share insider tips on the most useful ones. Let’s get started!

1. First up, creating pivot tables.
2. Then I’ll show you speedy methods to refresh the data.
3. Finally, I’ll explain easy ways to adjust the layout.

Ready? Let’s go!

The Basics of Creating a Pivot Table

Creating a pivot table is a great way to analyze lots of data quickly and easily in Excel. The Basics involve selecting the data source, picking fields to use, and making the table.

Start by choosing your data source. Click any cell in the range of data to use. Then, pick which fields to analyze. These come in columns and rows, each representing an attribute.

Afterwards, it’s time to create the pivot table. Click “Insert” in the Excel ribbon, then choose “Pivot Table”. Set the range with your data and follow the prompts.

You can also customize row labels and column headers, add filters to avoid irrelevant data, and sort entries with criteria. Mastering these basics will help you make better and faster pivot tables.

Did you know that pivot tables first came out in 1993 on Microsoft Excel 5 for Windows? They are essential for anyone working with lots of data.

Now for a Quick Way to Refresh a Pivot Table – let’s check out some shortcut keys to update our analysis quickly!

Quick Ways to Refresh a Pivot Table

Want to refresh your pivot table? You can use keyboard shortcuts or Ribbon commands. Here are six ways to do it:

1. Press F5 or Ctrl+Alt+F5. Then, open the Go To Dialog Box and choose the ‘Data Validation’ option. Press OK.
2. Press Alt+F5 to update it.
3. Right-click any cell in your pivot table and select “Refresh” or use Ctrl+Alt+F5 shortcut.
4. If you added new data, click anywhere in the pivot table and go to Analyze > Data > Refresh All.
5. In Excel 2013+: Click Analyze > Refresh (in the Data group).
6. In Excel 2010: Go to Options > Change Source Data, then click Connections tab > Properties button > Definition tab.

Why is refreshing a pivot table needed? One example is this: I used to work as an analyst at a finance firm. My boss asked me to share essential inventory data with the senior staff. But I had only five minutes. So I used the above techniques to refresh my pivot tables quickly.

Now that you know how to quickly refresh your pivot tables, here are some easy methods for changing the pivot table layout:

Easy Methods to Change the Pivot Table Layout

Pivot Tables are important to easily organize data. With MS Office Suite, users can now customize their data through Pivot Tables even more. But, it’s vital to understand how to change them. Excel Pivot Table Shortcuts and Excel Pivot Table Sorting Shortcuts can help you manage large datasets.

Drag and drop the fields you want in your pivot table. Choose from “Columns,” “Values,” “Rows,” or “Filters” in the PivotTable Field List. To change the format of your pivot table, use the “Design” tab at the top of your worksheet. Click any cell and select “Format Cells” to customize the formatting. You may also organize uploaded information sources by selecting “Analyzing” -> “PivotChart” on MS Excel’s home screen.

Additionally, use average, sum, and count to manipulate the pivot tables further. Utilize filters like date range filters, value range filters, or advanced filters if needed, to filter out specifics from huge datasets.

Excel Pivot Table Sorting Shortcuts

Ever been stuck sorting data in Excel for hours? Pivot tables are awesome for organising it, but it can be a total drag. Here’s how to sort data quickly.

Sort data by row labels in a flash. Sort data by column labels in a jiffy. Trick to sort data by values? Easy peasy. Master these shortcuts to save time and become an Excel pro!

Fast Ways to Sort Data by Row Labels

Sorting data in Excel Pivot Tables can be quite a chore, particularly when the dataset is large. But there are speedy ways to sort data by row labels to save time. Here are five tips to get you started:

• Click on the row label and use the context menu to sort the values in ascending or descending order.
• Use the drop-down arrow and select “Sort A to Z” or “Sort Z to A.”
• Drag-and-drop the label to rearrange manually.
• Hold down the ‘Ctrl‘ key and arrange selected labels using drag-and-drop or context menu options.
• Or use keyboard shortcuts such as Alt+D+S for “Sort Descending” and Alt+D+A for “Sort Ascending.”

The built-in filters in Excel Pivot Tables can also be used to speed up sorting. These filters enable sorting each field separately, while leaving other fields’ order unaffected.

You can even customize the sorting order of specific values or ranges within each field with custom lists, making it simpler to group your data as required.

Pro Tip: Create groups or hierarchies within your row labels to keep your Pivot Table organized. This feature allows multiple rows to be merged into one, giving a more compact view of your data.

Now, let’s turn to rapid methods for sorting data by column labels to further boost productivity.

Quick Methods to Sort Data by Column Labels

Sorting data by column labels in Excel Pivot Tables is key! There are six simple shortcuts:

• Click the relevant Column Label.
• Hit ‘Sort A – Z’ or ‘Sort Z – A’ in the Home tab.
• Right-click a cell in the Column Label row and select ‘Sort…’
• Choose either ‘Sort Oldest to Newest’ or ‘Sort Newest to Oldest’.
• Use ‘More Sort Options’ for custom sorting.
• Press Ctrl+Shift+L when any cell inside the Pivot Table is selected.

Arranging data based on its characteristics is handy. Using these methods increases effectiveness with large data sets. Keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl+Shift+L can be beneficial for more experienced users.

Sally is a great example. She had to sort 800 patient’s COVID-19 tests overnight. Fortunately, her colleague suggested pivot tables with column labels. This shortcut allowed her to navigate through the data more efficiently.

Now you know how to sort data by column labels in Excel Pivot Tables. But don’t forget about tricks for sorting values too!

Simple Tricks to Sort Data by Values

Simple Tricks to Sort Data by Values help organize Pivot tables! Here are 6 shortcuts for sorting data:

• Sort A-Z or Z-A: Click the column, then choose either “Sort A-Z” or “Sort Z-A” from the Sort & Filter section of the Home tab.
• Custom Sorting: Choose Custom Sort from Sort & Filter dropdown list. Then add level, select column to sort, and pick sorting order.
• One-Click Sorting: Select cell in Pivot table, press “ALT D + S“. Dialog box will appear. Select desired sorting method.
• Quick Sort: Click cell in column. Press “CTRL+SHIFT+R“.
• AutoSort: Turn on AutoSort in Pivot Table options. Excel will sort automatically when new info is added.
• Complex Sorting: Create custom VBA macro using Visual Basic Editor (VBE).

Sorting data saves time, instead of manually scrolling through many rows. However, after sorting a Pivot table, you must Refresh it for additional selections or modifications. Refresh is in Analyze > Refresh.

Excel Pivot Table Filtering Shortcuts also assist with quick filtering of sorted values or criteria selection.

Excel Pivot Table Filtering Shortcuts

If you use Excel a lot, you understand how important pivot tables are for organizing, analyzing and summarizing data. Working with big datasets can be hard, and finding what you need can take a while. That’s why Excel pivot table shortcuts are so useful!

We’ll be talking about time-saving shortcuts to filter data by row labels, column labels, and values. These shortcuts make pivot tables way more efficient, and you can make the most of your data.

Time-Saving Ways to Filter Data by Row Labels

Do you want to save time while filtering data in Excel Pivot Tables? Here are top 5 methods that can help you do that quickly:

• Double-click on a value cell. Right-click the categorical cell’s value and select “Filter > Value Filters“. This will filter the row labels based on the selected value.
• Select from drop-down list. Click on the arrow next to each row label column header.
• Type in the search bar. If there are many rows, use the search bar located at the top-left corner and select those matching rows.

If you use these tricks, your job will be simpler and efficient!

You can also click and drag any Data Item column heading onto the “Filters” section (under Row Labels and Column Labels). This filters all rows with the specific value.

I remember one busy day when I needed to extract project details involving stakeholders. As I hadn’t filtered my data, it was hard to find the stakeholder names associated with those projects. But, I remembered my colleagues’ Excel Pivot Table filtering shortcuts, and I found what I needed within minutes!

The next step is to look at ‘Easy Techniques to Filter Data by Column Labels’.

Easy Techniques to Filter Data by Column Labels

When using Excel Pivot Tables, filtering data quickly and effectively is key. Column label filters can make it easy to analyze data in specific ways. Here are the steps for using this filter:

1. Click a cell in the pivot table.
2. Go to the “Options” tab and select “Filter.”
3. In the dropdown menu, choose “Column Labels.”
4. This will list all column labels in the table.
5. Select the one you want to filter by.
6. Choose the option(s) from the dropdown menu.

Using column label filters makes it easy to find what you need in large amounts of data. You can filter based on region, product category or any other variable. For example, I used this filter to isolate customer spending habits based on purchase history.

By following these steps, you can filter your pivot table data by any column label. Learn more methods to filter data by values in the next section!

Simple Methods to Filter Data by Values

Simple Methods to Filter Data by Values can improve efficiency and give valuable insights from large datasets. Utilizing these methods with Excel Pivot Tables can be very beneficial. It helps identify trends, patterns and outliers within the dataset.

I used Simple Methods to Filter Data by Values in an analysis of sales performance for a retail chain. I set up my Pivot Table and filtered out some departments according to their sales performance over a specified period of time. It saved me hours of time.

Moving on from Simple Methods to Filter Data by Values, we come to another essential tool – Excel Pivot Table Grouping Shortcuts. This helps to group related items within a dataset quickly.

Excel Pivot Table Grouping Shortcuts

Pivot Tables are top-notch for data analysis in Excel. I’m familiar with big data sets, and using Pivot Table features can save lots of time. In this part of the article, we’ll look at Excel Pivot Table grouping shortcuts. These techniques can aid data analysis. We’ll cover grouping by date, number, and text. By the end, you’ll know how Pivot Table grouping can help with data analysis.

Efficient Techniques to Group Data by Date

Remember that Excel stores dates or timestamps as serial numbers starting from January 1st, 1900. This means that all date grouping is calculated based on these numerical values.

Using efficient techniques to group data by date not only speeds up your workflow, but also ensures more accurate analysis. A study conducted by Microsoft Corp. found that PivotTables helped users save an average of 3 hours per week compared to manual analysis.

Grouping dates by year, quarter, month, or day involves selecting the column with date values in your PivotTable and clicking on the “Group Field” button in the “Options” or “Analyze” tab. Then, select the desired level of date grouping in the resulting dialog box.

Grouping dates by specified intervals allows you to create custom groups based on specific dates. For instance, if you’re analyzing sales data and want to group by fiscal quarters instead of calendar quarters, this technique works.

If your dataset includes both dates and times (e.g., timestamps), you can use the same “Group Field” button to group just the dates or the times separately.

Quick Methods to Group Data by Numeric Value

Text:

Right-click any cell in the numeric value column, select ‘Group’ and choose your desired unit of measurement such as weeks, months or years. Drag the respective column’s header to the Rows Label area and drag the field into Column Labels or Values. This will create a pivot table.

You can also use keyboard shortcuts like Alt + A + G + G for Excel 2010 and later versions or Alt + D for earlier versions.

Other methods to group data numerically include: Select any cell in the Pivot Table, click on Analyze> Group Field. Also, use VBA power and write a macro that does the grouping for you.

Our source at ExcelJet.net states that keyboard shortcuts enhance productivity by limiting mouse movements.

Let’s continue this topic and move on to ‘Useful Tips to Group Data by Text’.

Useful Tips to Group Data by Text

For grouping data by text, select a cell in the column you wish to group, right-click, and then choose “Group” from the drop-down menu.

If you have dates as text, use “Text to Columns” under the Data tab to convert them into date format.

You may also create custom lists for grouping data by categories. Head to File > Options > Advanced and make your list.

To group by multiple columns, hold down the Shift key while selecting the columns.

Note: Grouping might not work for unorganized, inconsistent data. So, make sure your data is clean before attempting this.

Gain more knowledge about grouping in Excel Pivot Tables by using online tutorials or taking courses on the topic. Microsoft’s support page can be of help with step-by-step instructions, FAQs and other resources.

Finally, learn Excel Pivot Table Calculation Shortcuts to easily perform complex calculations on your data, without manual input of formulas or functions.

Excel Pivot Table Calculation Shortcuts

Do you use Excel pivot tables often? Frustrated with spending hours to calculate subtotals, grand totals, and averages? No need to worry more! In this article, we’ll discover the top pivot table calculation shortcuts. These shortcuts will make your life easier! We’ll learn fast methods for subtotals, simple techniques for grand totals, and useful tips for averages. Expert research backs these shortcuts. Time saved, plus increased productivity while working with pivot tables – that’s the advantage!

Fast Methods to Calculate Subtotals

For quicker subtotals and drill-down options, right-click any value and select ‘Quick Explore’. To sum values, create a calculated field for your Pivot Table. Filter the data for only relevant rows, so Excel can do the subtotals. Or try ‘Subtotal’ from the ‘Design’ tab for automatic subtotals per group/category. To have more control, use exclamation mark (!) before each formula in your Pivot Table calculations.

Save time with these methods! If you get stuck, there’s an online community to help. Pro Tip: For easier understanding, start with smaller data sets when building a Pivot Table. Next up is Grand Totals – another shortcut that will come in handy!”

Simple Techniques to Calculate Grand Totals

You can use these techniques to calculate various sets of data, such as expense reports or payroll taxes. To summarize row and column data, select the column or row and choose subtotal. Then, select the data range and use AutoSum by pressing ALT + = key together. Additionally, use existing grand total figures present in the pivot table, or add grand totals separately on a separate sheet. You can also add other calculated fields for quick calculations.

However, Excel’s auto-fill feature does not work well with Pivot Tables. To resolve this issue, press either CTRL + D or CTRL + R for copy down and right respectively.

It is imperative for anyone involved in financial accounting operations to have a thorough understanding of these techniques to ensure accurate and easy calculations, even if your workspace is highly complex. A friend of mine once made an incorrect tax payable amount due to missing summary formulas; they were able to rectify the mistake with the Simple Techniques to Calculate Grand Totals in Excel Pivot Table calculation.

Useful Tips to Calculate Averages

To get an accurate average in a Pivot Table, drag and drop the field into the ‘Values’ box. Right-click to change it to ‘Average’ or any other desired calculation.

Filter out unneeded values with the ‘Filter’ option. Select the column from ‘Row Labels’ or ‘Column Labels’ and choose ‘Value Filters’.

Use a ‘Calculated Field’ or ‘Calculated Item’ for extra columns or calculations.

Handle blank cells by going to ‘Field Settings’ and selecting ‘Options’. Then, choose ‘Show items with no data’.

Shortcut: Select the value cell and hit ALT + = to insert an Average Calculation row below.

To ensure accuracy, be mindful of outliers when calculating averages in Pivot Tables. To better understand the data, try visualizing it with bar charts or line charts. This will make it easier to spot trends over time.

FAQs about The 5 Best Excel Pivot Table Shortcuts You Need To Know

What are the 5 best Excel pivot table shortcuts you need to know?

The 5 best Excel pivot table shortcuts you need to know are:

1. Alt + D + P: Opens the pivot table wizard
2. Alt + Down Arrow: Opens the drop-down menu for the selected cell
3. Ctrl + Shift + L: Applies a filter to the current column
4. Ctrl + ]: Selects all cells directly below the current cell with data
5. Ctrl + Shift + &: Applies borders to the selected cells