The pivot table is a collection of tools that Excel uses to create reports from complex, multi-file spreadsheet data. Here's how to generate reports for single tables ...

Not anymore: Excel 2013’s table tools include features that make it easy to link charts and cells, perform searches, and create dynamically updated reports, just like—yes—a relational database.

And that’s it. It took all of 20 seconds to create and format a table in Excel. How to use a Total row for quick calculations. Next, you’ll add calculations to your table.

Using Excel’s PivotTables and PivotCharts, you can quickly analyze large data sets, summarize key data, and present it in easy-to-read format. Here’s how to get started with these powerful tools.