Google Sheets Updated November 2026

Pivot table in Google Sheets

Select the data, go to Insert, Pivot table, choose New sheet and click Create. The pivot table editor on the right has Add buttons for Rows, Columns, Values and Filters; add a text field to Rows and a number field to Values and the table fills in immediately and updates as the data changes.

Syntax

Insert > Pivot table > New sheet > Create > editor: Rows, Columns, Values, Filters

Part	What it is
`Summarize by`	SUM, COUNTA, COUNT, COUNTUNIQUE, AVERAGE, MAX, MIN, MEDIAN and more
`Show as`	Default, % of row, % of column, % of grand total, Running total
`Sort by / Order`	On each Rows field; sort by a value column or by the label
`Suggested`	Ready-made layouts Sheets proposes from your data

Examples

Rows: Region. Values: Revenue (Summarize by SUM)

Result: Revenue per region with a Grand Total row.

Rows: Product. Values: Order ID (Summarize by COUNTA)

Result: Number of orders per product.

Rows: Date > right-click a date > Create pivot date group > Month

Result: Rows become Jan, Feb, Mar with revenue grouped by month.

Rows: Region. Values: Revenue (Show as % of grand total)

Result: Each region's share of total revenue.

Common mistakes

The pivot shows COUNTA where you expected SUM: the column has text, so clean it or change Summarize by.
New rows are not included: the range in the editor is fixed; change it to whole columns such as Data!A:F.
Filters do not appear as dropdowns on the sheet: in Sheets the filter lives in the editor; use a slicer (Data, Add a slicer) for on-sheet buttons.

Practice Pivot table in Google Sheets

These drills check your answer on live data, free, no account needed.

Revenue by regionBuild a pivot that shows total Revenue for each Region.
How many orders per productShow how many orders there are for each Product.
Revenue by monthShow total Revenue for each month of 2025.

Questions

Does a Google Sheets pivot table update automatically?

Yes, as long as the new data falls inside the source range. Use whole-column ranges to be safe.

How do I sort a Google Sheets pivot table by value?

In the editor, under the Rows field, set Sort by to the value column (for example SUM of Revenue) and Order to Descending.

Can I group numbers into ranges in Google Sheets?

Yes. Right-click a number in Rows and choose Create pivot group rule to set a bucket size.

Calculated field in Google SheetsAdd a calculated field to a Google Sheets pivot table: Values, Add, Calculated field, then =Revenue-Cost summarized by SUM, or =SUM(Revenue)/SUM(Units).
Create a pivot tableCreate a pivot table in Excel from a range or table, pick a new worksheet, then drag fields into Rows and Values. Steps, shortcut, data rules and fixes.
Distinct countCount unique customers or products per region. In Excel tick Add this data to the Data Model and pick Distinct Count; in Google Sheets choose COUNTUNIQUE.
Group dates by month, quarter and yearGroup a date field in a pivot table by months, quarters and years with right-click, Group, and get year by month breakdowns. Auto grouping, ungrouping, weeks.