Excel Tables

Turn a block of data into an Excel Table (Insert > Table, or Ctrl+T) and Excel adds filter buttons, banded rows, and formulas that grow automatically when you add a row. The rules for a clean table:

1. One header row with a unique name for each column.
2. One record per row, one fact per column.
3. No blank rows or columns inside the data.
4. No totals mixed into the data; put them below or beside.

Tidy data like this works with sorting, filtering, PivotTables and every function in this course. The example is tidy; the second block breaks the rules and is awkward to summarise.

In Excel: click a cell in your data and press Ctrl+T. Check that the range is right and that "My table has headers" is ticked, then press OK.

The data gets banded rows and filter buttons, and a Table Design tab appears with the table options.