Use slicers, timelines and PivotCharts

There are lot of advanced tools in Excel to help you analyze your PivotTable data.

You can use Slicers and Timelines to filter your PivotTable data, and at a glance, you can see what filters are applied.

To add a slicer, click a cell in your PivotTable, and the PIVOTTABLE TOOLS tab appears.

Click ANALYZE, click Insert Slicer. The Insert Slicer dialog box has options for each field in the PivotTable.

Check the fields you want to slice the PivotTable with, and click OK.

Adjust the size of the slicers, move them where you want, and you are ready to slice your PivotTable.

To see the Cooking and Romance books sold in October at the Bellevue and Seattle stores, in the Genre slicer, click Cooking, press the Ctrl key, and click Romance.

In the Date slicer, click October. In the Store slicer, click Bellevue, press the Ctrl key, and click Seattle.

And in the PivotTable, you now see just the Cooking and Romance books sold in October at the Bellevue and Seattle stores.

To reset the slicers, click the Clear Filter button at the top right of each slicer.

To add a timeline, click a cell in your PivotTable. On the ANALYZE tab, click Insert Timeline. The Insert Timelines dialog has an option for each date field in your PivotTable. In this example, there’s just one.

Check the field and click OK.

Adjust the size of the timeline and move it where you want.

In the upper-right of the timeline, click the drop-down arrow, and choose a timeframe, such as Days.

Use the slider to move along the timeline.

Select the day, click an end of the selector, and drag it to cover the time period you want.

And the PivotTable now displays the sales for the time period.

You can use timelines and slicers together to filter your PivotTable data.

To reset the timeline, click the Clear Filter button at the top right of the timeline.

PivotCharts provide a visual representation of your PivotTable, making it easier to see trends.

To create a PivotChart, click a cell in your PivotTable. Click ANALYZE, click PivotChart.

In the Insert Chart dialog, click the chart type you want, and click OK.

For information about different chart types, see the link in the course summary.

Move the chart and make it the size you want. When you filter with the timeline and slicers, the chart automatically updates.

Now, you have a good idea about how to use PivotTables. Of course, there’s always more to learn.

So check out the course summary at the end, and best of all, explore Excel 2013 on your own.