How to Add Data to a Pivot Table

Easy guide to update your pivot table

Written by Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: June 2, 2025 Fact Checked

This wikiHow article teaches you how to add data to an existing pivot table in Microsoft Excel. You can do this in both the Windows and Mac versions of Excel.

Steps

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Double-click the Excel document that contains your pivot table. It will open.
Click the tab that contains your data (e.g., Sheet 2) at the bottom of the Excel window.

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Add or change your data. Enter the data that you want to add to your pivot table directly next to or below the current data.
- For example, if you have data in cells A1 through E10, you would add another column in the F column or another row in the 11 row.
- If you simply want to change the data in your pivot table, alter the data here.
Click the tab on which your pivot table is listed.
Click the pivot table to select it.
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Click the Analyze tab. It's in the middle of the green ribbon that's at the top of the Excel window. Doing so will open a toolbar just below the green ribbon.
- On a Mac, click the PivotTable Analyze tab here instead.
This option is in the "Data" section of the Analyze toolbar. A drop-down menu will appear.^{[1]
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It's in the drop-down menu. Doing so opens a window.^{[2]
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Microsoft Support
Technical support and product information from Microsoft.

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Click and drag from the top-left cell in your data group down to the bottom-left cell in the group. This will include the column(s) or row(s) that you added.^{[3]
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Microsoft Support
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It's at the bottom of the window.
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Click Refresh. It's in the "Data" section of the toolbar.^{[4]
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- If you added a new column to your pivot table, check its box in the right side of the Excel window to display it.

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Question

How can I refresh data on a pivot table?

Community Answer

While in the data of the Pivot Table, the Analyze/Design tabs are viewable on the Ribbon, select the 'Refresh' button on the ribbon (it has 2 arrows that create a circle).

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It's a good idea to save your pivot table before making any changes to it so that you can revert to the saved version if something goes wrong.

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