Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Suppressing Zero Values in PivotTables.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 1, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
Many people use the PivotTable feature of Excel to help analyze their data. One such person is Chris, who explained how he has approximately 40,000 rows of data which boil down to about 8,200 rows in a PivotTable. The problem is that only about 230 of those rows have non-zero values in them. Chris was looking for a way to suppress the PivotTable rows that contain zero balances.
There are various ways that a solution can be approached. For instance, you could work with the original data and delete zero-balance rows before creating the PivotTable. If that is not possible, you can use an AutoFilter on the data, before creating the PivotTable, that would show only rows that are not equal to zero. In other words, create a PivotTable using filtered data.
Another option is to use AutoFilter after the PivotTable is created. All you need to do is select the column to the immediate right of the PivotTable and then create the AutoFilter. Excel is smart enough to know that the AutoFilter should not apply to the blank column, but instead does its work on the rows that make up the PivotTable.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2041) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Suppressing Zero Values in PivotTables.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here:
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