Pivot table is a feature of Excel that takes a long list of data, summarizes it into a shorter list that is more easy to analyze and assimilate.

The best way to explain how to create a pivot table in Excel 2007 is by using an example.

Below is a list of products, salesmen and total sales for a product / salesman.

To create a pivot table to summarize the total sales by product, you perform the following steps:

1. Prepare your data table and make sure you have columns headings.
2. Select the data range or simply click on a cell within the range.
3. In the Insert tab click Pivot Table. The window Create Pivot Table will open.



4. Make sure that Table/Range points to your correct range then click OK.
5. Now you will get a rectangular area to the left that represents the pivot table, and a field list to the right.



6. In the Pivot Table Field List to the right select Product and Total Sales. The pivot table that summarizes total sales by product will be created as follows:



7. If you select Salesman instead of Product, this is what you get: a pivot table that summarizes total sales by salesman.



8. You can plot a chart from the pivot table as shown below.