Double-clicking on a number cell in a pivot table creates a new sheet in the workbook, showing the records included in that number. Sometimes the list doesn’t look the way you’d like it to, and the numbers aren’t formatted the way they are in the source data.

For example, the source data might have sales amounts formatted as currency, or dates in a long format.

Unfortunately, those formats aren’t used in the new sheet.

You don’t have much control over the default formatting in the drilldown details list, but here are a couple of things you can do.

Change the Default Table Style

The drilldown details list is formatted as a named Excel Table, in the default style selected in the workbook. If you change the default Table Style, new lists will use the new default style.

To change the default Table Style:

• Select a cell in any Excel Table in the workbook. If there aren’t any tables, double-click a pivot table data cell, to create one.
• In the Ribbon’s Design tab, click the More drop down arrow for Table Styles
• Right-click on the style that you want as the default Table Style
• Click Set As Default

Now, when you double-click a number cell in the pivot table, the new default style is used.

Change the Normal Style

If you’re seeing strange number formatting in the drilldown details, such as dates in Currency format, the Normal Style can be adjusted.

When you select a Theme in an Excel workbook, or use the default Theme, it uses specific fonts, colours, and other format settings.

The Normal style is affected by the selected Theme, and you can make further adjustments to the Normal style. The drilldown details list will use the font and number formatting from the Normal style.

To change the Normal style:

• On the Ribbon’s Home tab, click Cell Styles
• Right-click on Normal, and click Modify

• Click the Format button, and change any of the Cell formatting options.
• Click OK, twice, to close the dialog boxes.

TIP: For number formatting, select General, so dates and numbers will look best. If you select Currency, or another specialized format, all the numbers, including dates, will get that format.

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If you create a pivot table in Excel 2007 and later versions, formatting is automatically applied by the PivotTable Styles feature.

This feature makes it quick and easy to format your pivot tables, and helps you stay consistent with the Theme settings in your Excel file.

Problems with Format Copying

Occasionally, you might want to copy a pivot table as values, without the underlying data. Unfortunately, if you copy an Excel 2007 or later pivot table, and paste it with the Paste Special command, the PivotStyle formatting is not pasted.

In the screenshot below, the values from the pivot table were pasted into columns D:E, but pasting the formats had no effect.

Pivot Table Format Paste Workarounds

Fortunately, there are workarounds for the problem of pasting the pivot table formatting:

1. Use the Office Clipboard, to paste the Pivot Table formatting
2. Copy and paste the pivot table in a couple of steps, as shown below
3. Programmatically copy the pivot table in a couple of steps

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An Excel Table is a new feature in Excel 2007, similar to the List feature in Excel 2003. An Excel Table makes it easy for you to sort, filter, and review your data, whether it's a few rows and columns, or thousands.

You can also use an Excel Table as the source for a Pivot Table, and new data will automatically be included in the Pivot Table source.

Arrange Your Data

Prepare your data before creating an Excel Table:

• Enter your data on a worksheet, in rows and columns, with headings in the first row.
• Remove any blank rows or columns within the data
• Leave at least one blank row and one blank column between your data, and any other data on the worksheet. Ideally, keep your data on a separate sheet.

Create the Excel Table

To create an Excel Table:

• Select a cell in your data, and on the Ribbon, click the Insert tab.
• In the Tables group, click the Table command.
• In the Create Table dialog box, the range for your data should automatically appear, and the My table has headers option is checked. Click OK to accept these settings.

Explore the Excel Table Features

After you have created an Excel Table, you can test some of its useful features:

• Sort Data -- Click drop down arrow in the heading cells, and click to sort data in ascending or descending order.
• Quick Filters -- Click drop down arrow in the heading cells, and check or uncheck items to show or hide.
• Visible Headings – If headings in row 1 are no longer visible, column letters are replaced by Excel Table headings.
• New data automatically included--Add data at the end of an Excel table, and the table automatically expands to include it.
• Table Name --An Excel table is automatically named, e.g. Table1, when it is created. You can refer to this name when creating a pivot table. You can also change the name to something better, such as SalesData.

Excel Table Tutorial Video

If you're working with lists of data in Excel 2007, be sure to use the new Excel Table feature, to make it easier to manage your data.

To see a quick demonstration of creating an Excel Table, and testing a few features, please watch this short video tutorial.

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Please visit the Contextures website for more information on Excel Tables and Pivot Table Tutorials.

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