On Friday, we learned how to transpose a table of data using Excel formulas.
In comments of that post, Joey gave us an interesting tip.
Might I recommend an alternative that involves no array formulas, is easier to debug and less computationally intensive.
1) Highlight area to be transposed and copy
2) Paste special -> Paste Link, somewhere else on the sheet
3) Highlight new area and Find/Replace “=” with “xxx”
4) Copy new area, paste special –> transpose
5) Find/Replace “xxx” with “=”
Now you have a direct link to the cell with no fancy formula required (link)
This is quick, easy to use & lovely way to transpose data.
So let me explain this in detail.
6 Steps to transpose a table of data
by using Copy, Paste, Find & Replace
- Copy your original data & paste links to it in a blank place (CTRL+ALT+V and L)
- Select this new data & Press CTRL+H
- Replace all = with x=
- Copy again & paste special > transpose in another blank area
- Press CTRL + H again and Replace all x= with =
- You are Done!
See below tutorial to understand how this works:

Thanks Joey…,
Special thanks to Joey for suggesting this method. It is a testament to our readers’ awesomeness.
If you enjoyed this tip, say thanks to Joey.
More tricks using Paste Special, Find Replace etc.
For a few more tricks & clever uses of paste special, find replace, go to special, check out these links:
- Quickly fill blank cells in a table using Paste Special
- Extract portions of text using Find Replace
- Use Paste Special to format charts quickly
- Quickly change formulas using Find Replace
- Compare row differences using Go to Special
- Delete Blank rows using goto special
- More tips on using Paste Special, Go to Special & Find Replace













5 Responses to “Preparing Profit / Loss Pivot Reports [Part 2 of 6]”
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I am not getting sound from the videos. I have checked all the settings and spent several hours searching the Internet to no avail.
Has anyone else had this problem?
Is there anyway to get the Grand Total to be broken out in the same fashion as the items above it? For instance, if you have in column 1, widget a, widget b, and have their sales by month in column 2, I'd like to see the grand total also be by month, for widget a & b combined.
I can't get anything other than a single line for the grand total, rather than the same format as the data above.
Widget A Month Sales
Jan 100
Feb 200
Widget B
Jan 150
Feb 250
Grand total - here I would also like to have Jan, Feb.
Jan 250
Feb 450