How to Create Microsoft Excel PivotTables

1. Open the Excel 2010 document that contains the information you want to use in a PivotTable.
2. Click the Insert tab on the Excel ribbon. Click the PivotTable button at the left end of the ribbon. This opens the Create PivotTable window.
3. Look for the dotted lines on your Excel worksheet. These lines determine what data the PivotTable uses. The PivotTable defaults to include all the data on the sheet, but if you need to choose a different area, select the top-left cell of the area you want to use. Then navigate to the bottom-right cell, hold shift, and select that cell.
4. Choose between placing the PivotTable on a new worksheet or using an existing worksheet. If you choose an existing worksheet, you need to choose the worksheet from a drop-down box. Click OK to create the PivotTable.
5. Click on the fields in the field list, located on the right side of the screen, to add them to the PivotTable. Each column in your original data area will become a field listed here. As you add fields to the PivotTable, Excel automatically places them into one of the four PivotTable areas, located below the field list.
6. Click a field in one of the four PivotTable areas, and then drag it to a different area to give the PivotTable your desired look. The four PivotTable areas correspond to different aspects of the table itself. Fields in the Report Filter area sit above the PivotTable and allow you to filter the entire table based on the values in that field. Fields in the Column Labels and Row Labels areas make up the columns and rows of the PivotTable. Fields in the Values area make up the bulk of the PivotTable.