Final answer:
To show text in a pivot table, which doesn't directly support textual values, you can use a helper column with numeric codes and the CUSTOM CALCULATIONS feature in the pivot table.
This will represent text data indirectly through associated numerical values.
Step-by-step explanation:
In Excel, pivot tables traditionally display numerical data as sums or counts, but often there is a need to display text data as well.
While Excel pivot tables do not natively support text values, you can use a workaround to achieve this. One method is to use the CUSTOM CALCULATIONS feature with a helper column in your data.
- Add a helper column to your data before creating the pivot table. This column could contain a numeric code or a unique identifier for each text entry.
- Generate a pivot table by selecting your data, including the helper column, and inserting a pivot table from the Insert tab.
- In the pivot table, drag your text column to the Rows labels or Columns labels area, and the helper column to the Values area.
- Select the helper column in the pivot table, right-click, choose 'Value Field Settings', then set 'Summarize value field by' to 'Max', 'Min', or 'Average' which will allow you to see representative numbers corresponding to the text values.
- Next, you can use another feature like 'Calculated Field' to correlate numbers back to the associated text, by creating a formula within the pivot table that references the helper column.
This solution allows text data to be represented in a pivot table indirectly via auxiliary numeric values.