Microsoft Excel PivotTables and PivotCharts 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is a PivotChart in Excel?
- A chart created from scratch without any data source
- A static snapshot of a PivotTable exported as an image
- A chart linked to a PivotTable that dynamically updates when the PivotTable changes (Correct answer)
- A chart type that displays data in a circular pivot format
Correct answer: A chart linked to a PivotTable that dynamically updates when the PivotTable changes
A PivotChart is directly linked to a PivotTable and automatically updates when the PivotTable is filtered, changed, or refreshed.
Question 2: Which of the following is NOT a standard date grouping option available in PivotTables?
- Months
- Quarters
- Decades (Correct answer)
- Years
Correct answer: Decades
Excel's built-in date grouping options include Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Months, Quarters, and Years — Decades is not an available option.
Question 3: What does the 'Show Values As' option allow you to do in PivotTable Value Field Settings?
- Display negative values in red font
- Change the number format to currency
- Calculate values relative to other data, such as % of Grand Total or Running Total (Correct answer)
- Show text descriptions alongside numeric values
Correct answer: Calculate values relative to other data, such as % of Grand Total or Running Total
Show Values As enables you to display values as % of Grand Total, Running Total, Difference From, and other comparative calculations.
Question 4: What is a calculated field in a PivotTable?
- A field that shows automatically calculated subtotals
- A field pulled from a formula-based column in the source data
- A new field created using a formula within the PivotTable itself, not present in the source data (Correct answer)
- A field that automatically rounds values to two decimal places
Correct answer: A new field created using a formula within the PivotTable itself, not present in the source data
A calculated field is a custom field defined by a formula inside the PivotTable using existing fields as inputs, without modifying the source data.
Question 5: Which keyboard shortcut is used to refresh a PivotTable?
- Ctrl+R
- Alt+F5 (Correct answer)
- F9
- Ctrl+Shift+R
Correct answer: Alt+F5
Alt+F5 refreshes the active PivotTable, updating it to reflect any changes in the source data.
Question 6: What does the Report Layout option control in a PivotTable?
- The print orientation (portrait or landscape)
- The page margins for printing the PivotTable
- The number of columns displayed in the PivotTable
- How the PivotTable is visually displayed — Compact, Outline, or Tabular form (Correct answer)
Correct answer: How the PivotTable is visually displayed — Compact, Outline, or Tabular form
Report Layout changes the PivotTable's visual display format among Compact Form (default), Outline Form, and Tabular Form.
Question 7: How can you connect a single Slicer to filter multiple PivotTables simultaneously?
- Right-click the Slicer and select 'Link to All PivotTables'
- Use the Slicer Settings dialog box
- Use the Report Connections option from the Slicer tab or right-click menu (Correct answer)
- Hold Ctrl while dragging the Slicer to each PivotTable
Correct answer: Use the Report Connections option from the Slicer tab or right-click menu
The Report Connections option lets you connect one Slicer to multiple PivotTables so they all filter at the same time.
Microsoft Excel PivotTables and PivotCharts 2
What is a PivotChart in Excel?