Here's a quick overview of how to use pivot tables (we'll dive deeper in the next section). How to Create a Pivot Table in Excel Online That means that you won't have to create a new spreadsheet for each analysis-you can use the same data and manipulate it in the pivot table to get new insights each time. A pivot table can be used to analyze an unlimited variety of data. Using a pivot table, you can do just that.Īnd that's just a simple example. For example, you might want to see how much money you spent on rent and utilities in the last quarter. To gain more insight and meaning from the data, you need to see it dynamically. This is what is called a flat data-all you're seeing is a sea of rows and columns. At the end of the year, when you sit down to review, you're going to have a tough time sorting through hundreds of entries.

Let's say you diligently log all your expenses across the whole year in a single spreadsheet. That's where a pivot table comes in-it filters and summarizes your data based on criteria of your choosing. And when you lose track of the data, you lose track of the meaning behind it. When spreadsheets start expanding beyond a few rows and columns, it becomes difficult to keep track of the data. The examples in this tutorial come from that demo sheet, and you can use it to experiment further once you're ready.

You can use our demo sheet to practice: Open the sheet in Excel Online, and click Save to OneDrive to start working on your own copy. Here, we'll walk you through how to create a pivot table in Excel Online. Excel Online makes it easy to create pivot tables that will help you summarize your data and give you more insight into what your raw numbers mean. Spreadsheets are great for cataloging large pools of data, but it takes a feature like pivot tables to really draw conclusions from the data.

Excel 2013 create pivot table options