XL: Pivot Table Uses COUNT Instead of SUM with Blank Cells

ID: Q110599

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

Microsoft Excel automatically uses the SUM function for numeric data and the COUNT function for non-numeric data in the Data area of a pivot table. If the numeric field contains blank cells, the PivotTable Wizard will default to COUNT instead of SUM. If all value cells contain numbers, the default will be SUM as expected.

If you want to change the function that is used in the data field, do the following:

1. In the PivotTable Wizard Step 3 of 4 in the Data field, double-click the 

   field button.
2. In the Summarize By List box, click Sum.

3. Click OK.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

1. In Microsoft Excel, create a new workbook.

2. Enter the following values into a worksheet in the workbook: 

      A1: Region   B1: Salesperson  C1: Sales
      A2: a        B2: Joe          C2: 1
      A3: b        B3: Cindy        C3:
      A4: c        B4: Tom          C4: 1
      A5: d        B5: Steve        C5:
3. Select any cell in the range A1:C5. On the Data menu, click 
   PivotTable or PivotTable Report.
4. Select Next in Step 1 of 4 of the PivotTable Wizard. In Step 2 of 4 
   select Next to accept the range A1:C5.
5. Drag the Region field button to the row area, drag the Salesperson 
   field button to the column area, and drag the Sales field button to the
   data area. Notice the Sales field button changes to Count of Sales.
6. Double-click the Count of Sales field button in the data area. Click 
   Summarize by Sum and click Ok. The caption changes to Sum of Sales.
7. Click Finish in Step 3 of 4 to create your PivotTable.

REFERENCES

"User's Guide," version 5.0, Chapter 24

For more information about Pivot Tables, click the Search button in Help and type: 

    Pivot
Additional query words: 5.00 7.00 8.00 97 pt XL97 
Keywords          : xlpivot 
Version           : WINDOWS:97,7.0,5.0,5.0c
Platform          : WINDOWS

Last Reviewed: January 8, 1999