In October 2008, I have started an ambitious series of posts on this blog called – Spreadcheats. These are little tricks, nuggets, tutorials on using Excel that would make anyone a spreadsheet guru.
The spreadcheats series has been wildly successful. I am compiling all this useful information and articles in to one big post so that anyone can follow the links and become good in Excel. Read on,
[Note: This is not for beginners. If you know what a formula is, you would enjoy this 31 articles]
1: Insert Line Breaks in a Cell
Press ALT+Enter keys in a cell to make a new line inside the cell. [Read this]
2: Select all cells in a range
Use these keyboard shortcuts to select all the cells in a range or group. You can find 90 more shortcuts on that page. [Read this]
3: Using Mouse in Excel
Many of us know at few keyboard shortcuts. But what about mouse short-cuts? Read this post to learn interesting mouse shortcuts that can boost your productivity. [Read this]
4: Using Mouse in Excel – Part 2
In the second part of Mouse shortcuts, we explore double click tricks in Excel. [Read this]
5: Save time by using chart templates
In this spreadcheat, learn how to make your own chart templates and re-use them to save time. [Read this]
6: Make ToC (Table of Contents) in Excel – and other tricks
We all run in to large excel workbooks one time or other. Read this post to find out how you can manage when you have a large file. [Read this]
7: How to print spreadsheets one just one page?
Use the little trick in print settings to print any worksheet on just one page. [Read this]
8: Write better formulas by knowing the difference between relative and absolute references
Quick, what is the difference between A1 and $A$1? If you said 2 dollars, you are the right person to read this article. Learning the differences and usages of various reference types in Excel is important if you want to write better and simpler formulas. [Read this]
9: Remove duplicate items using formulas
Learn how to remove duplicates, identify unique values etc. using formulas in this article. [Read this]
10: Introduction to VLOOKUP Formula (and MATCH, OFFSET Formulas)
VLOOKUP remains one of the most important and very useful formulas in Excel. Learn how to write vlookup formulas by reading this article. [Read this]
11: Introduction to 3D References in Excel (a tutorial on Employee Satisfaction Surveys in Excel)
In this tutorial, we will explore a feature called 3D References in Excel and build an employee satisfaction survey form in Excel. [Read this]
12: Introduction to SUMPRODUCT formula
Learn how to use SUMPRODUCT to find sum of values that meet more than one condition. [Read this]
13: Introduction to ROWS and COLUMNS formulas
One of my recent favorites, ROWS() formula is very useful to generate sequential numbers in Excel. [Read this]
14: Calculate Moving Average in Excel
Use excel formulas and relative references to calculate moving average from your data. [Read this]
15: Introduction to FREQUENCY formula
We use FREQUENCY formula in Excel to generate statistical distribution of a set of values in this example. [Read this]
16: How to understand and fix excel formula errors
If you are ever perplexed by #N/A, #NAME! and said #$#@ to excel, this is the article for you. Read it to learn what these errors actually mean and how to fix them. [Read this]
17: Quick tip to Debug Complex Excel Formulas
Use Function key F9 to debug lengthy and complex excel formulas. Select a portion of the formula and press F9 to instantly evaluate that portion and see the result. Read this article to find out how to use this trick. [Read this]
18: Use Find / Replace tool to change formulas
Learn how to use Find / Replace tool in Excel to quickly edit formulas and change them. [Read this]
19: Introduction to COUNTIF and SUMIF Formulas
COUNTIF and SUMIF are very simple yet very powerful formula tools for anyone using Excel. In this article, explore these formulas and learn to use them. [Read this]
20: Introduction to Array Formulas in Excel
Array formula is like a mega formula that would work on an entire range of cells and return another range of cells. They are useful for scenarios where the output we need is not one value but a set of values. In this introductory example, learn how to write your first array formula. [Read this]
21: Introduction to Excel Conditional Formatting
Excel conditional formatting is your way of telling excel to highlight / change formatting of cells that meet certain criteria. This is a good way to draw attention to few points from a large table. Learn how to use Excel CF in this introductory article. [Read this]
22: Introduction to Excel Camera Tool
In this article, learn about Excel Camera (or Snapshot) tool which is useful for making a live snapshot of a range of cells. [Read this]
23: Introduction to Excel Pivot Tables
Pivot tables are a powerful way to analyze and report your data. In this introductory post, you will find all the basics of pivot tables and learn some tricks. [Read this]
24: Introduction to Excel Goal Seek
Goal Seek is opposite of formulas. In formulas we tell excel a bunch of values and excel finds the result. In goal seek, we tell excel what the result should and excel tells us what kind of parameters should be given. This is useful to find, for eg. Your retirement nest egg value … [Read this]
25: Introduction to Combination Charts in Excel
Learn how to combine 2 different chart types in to one chart in this article. [Read this]
26: Make a Dynamic / Interactive Chart using Data Filters
Do you know that we can use data filters to filter charts as well as data? Well, in this article, you can learn a powerful yet simple trick to make a dynamic chart in Excel using data filters alone. [Read this]
27: Make a Dynamic / Interactive Chart using INDEX Formula
Learn how to set up a dynamic or interactive chart using INDEX formula and Camera tool in Excel. [Read this]
28: Make Collapsible Charts using Group – Outline Tools
We can collapse / expand charts using the group and outline tools in Excel. Learn how to set up such a collapsible chart in Excel. [Read this]
29: Showing Chart Labels in Different Colors – Charting Tricks
Learn how to use custom cell formatting codes to show chart labels in different colors based on a criteria. [Read this]
30: Advanced Data Validation Tricks in Excel – Part 1
In part 1 of excel data validation tricks, we will learn how to use excel formulas to control the way data validation works. [Read this]
31: Advanced Data Validation Tricks in Excel – Part 2
In part 2 of data validation tricks, we will learn how to prevent duplicate data entry using data validation formulas. [Read this]
Happy learning 🙂
23 Responses to “Displaying Text Values in Pivot Tables without VBA”
Its possible to display up to 4 text values.
Have a look at the screen shot of an example that I had posted way back at the EHA and figure out how its done !
http://tinypic.com/r/muzywk/6
With Excel 2010 you can use Conditional Formatting to apply custom number formats which can display text. (In older versions you can only modify text color and cell background color, but not number formats.) Using CF allows for an even larger number of different display values.
[...] Display text values in Pivot Tables without VBA [...]
Hey,
Thanks, this helps. But how do you do it for multiple values where there is a huge amount of non repeating text?
@Soumya
The only way to do more than 4 values is to make the Pivot Table manually with formulas, of course then it isn't a Pivot table
You can of course do it with VBA
You may want to have a look at this description of how to do it here: http://www.clearlyandsimply.com/clearly_and_simply/2011/06/emulate-excel-pivot-tables-with-texts-in-the-value-area-using-vba.html
@Soumya
The only way to do more than 4 values is to make the Pivot Table manually with formulas, of course then it isn’t a Pivot table
You can of course do it with VBA
You may want to have a look at this description of how to do it here: http://www.clearlyandsimply.com/clearly_and_simply/2011/06/emulate-excel-pivot-tables-with-texts-in-the-value-area-using-vba.html
[...] Pivot Tables take tables of data and allow the user to summarise and consolidate the data at the same time. This is a great and very fast method of analysis but is restricted to handling mathematical functions on the value field resulting in numerical summaries. – read more [...]
[…] Read more here: Displaying Text Values in Pivot Tables without VBA […]
There is a very good way actually for handling text inside values area.
First you create a special column on the very left side and call it ID, and put unique ID (numbers only), and then create a pivot table with:
Row Labels and Column labels as you like, and in the Values labels use the unique ID number.
Move the unique ID number (copy paste) somewhere to the right and use vlookup to load the data you need using the ID as reference.
It is a bit longer way but for me it works perfectly to combine values as you like in any moment.
hope helps.
Regards,
Jon
Thank you! I finally understand pivot tables thanks to your clear, concise explanations and examples.
Good Day. This is exactly what i have been looking for. However when i try it on my pivot table or even when i try to recreate this exercise using the sample worksheet, i get this error:
"Microsoft Excel cannot use the number format you typed. Try using one of the built-in number formats."
Same thing here, Excel quite did not like the format in my PowerPivot. Any clues as to what may be going on? Thanks.
I have the same thing happening on my end. I'm running a normal pivot table on a .xlsm file.
@Danzi
What format did you use?
can you post the file ?
pls. help in table there is name, pan. amount. i have to make pivot table for example
NAME PAN AMOUNT
MR.X AAAAC1254T 500.00
MR.Y AAABR1258C
MR.A CFVDE2458T
MR.Z AAVCR12548C
MR.X AAAAC1254T
MR.Z AADCD245T
pls. help in table there is name, pan. amount. i have to make pivot table for example
NAME PAN AMOUNT
MR.X AAAAC1254T 500.00
MR.Y AAABR1258C 1000
MR.A CFVDE2458T 2000
MR.Z AAVCR12548C 5451
MR.X AAAAC1254T 45564
MR.Z AADCD245T 4500
how to get pivot tabe so i get PAN no. against Name.
I found an easy way to get text values in pivot table.
I create an other worksheet in wich each cell has a formula that copy the pivot table. The trick is that the formula does a lookup for the numbers in the pivot table.
The formula looks like that:
=IF(ISNUMBER(table!A1);VLOOKUP(table!A1;Code!$A$1:$B$65;2);IF(ISBLANK(table!A1);" ";table!A1))
Code is a worksheet where there is a liste of text /numbers correspondance.
As a bonus The new sheet is easier to format
Additional trick:
In my case, i encoded differents codeid with a power(2, codeId-1) so that summing then is equivalent to concatenate them.
1-A
2-B
4-C
8-D
yields :
5 - AC
14 - BCD
Hi
I want to ask if pivot can display dates in pivot field. As in a column i have customers and in row different items i want to know there last purchase date. anyone help in this??
Hello Guys, Need your help
I am doing some analysis of the cycle time of the product i.e how much time a product takes from manufacturing to the central warehouse.
I have batch numbers for the product and against them i have to pull out the diff. dates
Like the base date is from where the manufacturing start. So i have the batch number,against it's manuf. date. Now i have to pull out the date when it was quality released.
I have the quality released data but the data have duplicates, like i will have two dates or may be three for the same batch. So my main objective is to pull out the date which is latest among them.
BATCH NO. DATE of Mfg. DATE of Quality release
A1 12/4/2014 (HERE I HAVE TO PULL value)
Next Sheet
BATCH NO. DATE of Quality Release
A1 14/5/2014
a2 23/5/2016
A1 12/5/2014
A1 13/6/2014
From this sheet i have to pull up the latest date format of date here is dd/mm/yyy
TIA
[…] needed to present text instead of counts in a pivot table value column. Here is an excellent resource for Excel manipulation, in addition to an overview of pivot […]
This is great thank you.
Wow!!! Excellent!! It helped me a lot.
I am developing training tracking sheet for 200 employees with training completed date. Each employee will be attending 25 courses. How to indicate actual dates in pivot table value field.