What Is the Purpose of a PivotTable in Excel?

PivotTables are reports extrapolated from an existing Excel spreadsheet, designed to improve the organization of complicated data. They do not interfere with the original spreadsheet, but are extensions of that information.

Querying Ease

Querying extensive amounts of data becomes more user-friendly; it's easy to do and undo.

Improved Presentation of Data

A PivotTable summarizes data by categories as well as subcategories.

Automated Data Rearrangement

A PivotTable can be used to geographically switch the placement of rows and columns. This can be used to automatically reorganize data to create an Excel chart.

Ease of Isolating Specific Data

A PivotTable can isolate specified data. This may be desired for reports in which only certain data is relevant.

Ease of Data Dissemination

It also creates an easier way of looking for trends or patterns in fields of data, especially over several categories.

Customized for the User

A PivotChart is interactive, not standardized. You select and arrange field placement, which allows you to visually determine how to best convey the relevant information.