Add a Column in a Pivot Table

Pivot tables are a feature in Excel used to organize data. The crafting of the pivot table allows you to focus on one or more findings that the data supports. Adding columns to your pivot table provides the means for adding more detail, which, in turn, can help present a more complete picture of the situation depicted. However, the process is counter-intuitive and can be confusing: to add a column in a pivot table, you'll need to change the source data of the pivot table to include an existing worksheet column with the data you wish to include. Doing it correctly means you'll include the most complete information available on your spreadsheet.

Steps

1. Launch Microsoft Excel.
2. Open the file containing the source data and pivot table.
3. Select the tab containing the source data by clicking on it.
4. Make any necessary adjustments to the source data.
   • If the column you want represented in your pivot table does not already exist in the source data worksheet, you will need to insert a column by right clicking on an existing column and choosing "Insert Column" from the popup menu.
   • If you added a column to your source data, populate that column with the relevant data.
5. Click the tab on which your existing pivot table is located and then click inside the pivot table to force the "Pivot Table Tools" menu and the "Field List" to launch.
6. Change the source data to include your newly inserted column, if necessary.
   • Select Change Data Source...
   • Choose Select a table or range and insert the range of the source data into the Table/Range text box.
7. Refresh the pivot table.
   • The "Refresh" command can be found either on the "Pivot Table Tools" menu or within the Wizard utility.
8. Choose the column title for the column you want to add to your pivot table and drag it into the "Values" area of the field list.
   • Alternatively, you can drag the column label into the "Values" section of the pivot table.
   • Do not drop the column label into the "Columns" section of the pivot table or field list. This will create a separate column for each original value in the selected source data column.
9. Alter the summarization type for your new column by right-clicking on the column label in the "Values" section and selecting "Sum," "Count," "Average" or one of the other summarization types

Tips

• The column of data you add to your pivot table can contain formulas, numerical values or text, and the summarization type will depend upon the type of data. For instance, the 2 most common types of summaries are "Sum" and "Count."
• Save your workbook as a separate file before you begin to manipulate the source data for a pivot table. It may be easier to abandon the changes and start fresh with the original file if you make a mistake.

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• Microsoft Excel
• Data

Related Articles

• Create Pivot Tables in Excel
• Change an Excel Pivot Table Source
• Create a Chart from a Pivot Table
• Add a Custom Field in Pivot Table
• Calculate Difference in Pivot Table

Sources and Citations

• http://www.timeatlas.com/5_minute_tips/chunkers/learn_to_use_pivot_tables_in_excel_2007_to_organize_data

See also

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• Create a Spirallic Numbers Dataset
• Do Cost Volume Profit Analysis
• Bulldog Through an Intellectually Simple Problem
• Use the Newton Raphson Method of Quickly Finding Roots
• Add Two Cells Already Containing Sum of Other Formulas

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What links here

• Create Pivot Tables in Excel
• Add Filter to Pivot Table
• Add a Custom Field in Pivot Table