← ACARA Digital Technologies Years 9–10

Inserting a slicer on a pivot table

Adds a panel of buttons for one field. Click a button to filter the pivot table and its pivot chart. Hold Ctrl to select several buttons at once.

Part of: ACARA Digital Technologies Years 9–10 — Analysing and Visualising Data — Module 57

Understanding Inserting a slicer on a pivot table in ACARA Digital Technologies Years 9–10

What it does: A slicer is built for one field. You tick that field's box in the Insert Slicer window, then click OK. The Columns box on the Slicer tab arranges the buttons into more columns, so a long list of buttons takes up less height. Clicking a slicer button filters the pivot table and its linked pivot chart. The other buttons stay available. The Clear Filter icon (a funnel with a red cross) removes the filter. All buttons are then selected again.

Common mistakes: A slicer filters by a field of categories such as House. A calculated total like the sum of points gives no useful buttons. It should be: Tick the House field. Cancel closes the Insert Slicers box without making a slicer. Click OK to add the slicer.

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This module's key terms are also in a printable crossword (Modules 378–412) and word search (Modules 333–412).

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Learning

Duo

Which menu path adds a slicer to a pivot table?

Data > Remove DuplicatesInsert > Slicer

Matches

Click a slicer button, then click another to select both

↓

A normal click selects only one button. The second click replaces the first, so only one item is shown.

Applying

Meanings

Term

Insert > Slicer

Meaning

Adds a panel of buttons for one field. Click a button to filter the pivot table and its pivot chart. Hold Ctrl to select several buttons at once.

Practice

Click inside the pivot table

Testing

Gaps

Insert >

Check Answer

Spots

2Go to Insert > Slicer

3Tick the Points total field

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Quick Questions

1. Which menu path adds a slicer to a pivot table?

A. Insert > Slicer ✓

B. Data > Remove Duplicates

Select a cell inside the pivot table, then choose Insert > Slicer. A box lists the fields you can use.

2. A slicer is made for how many fields?

A. Every field in the pivot table at once

B. One field, such as Region ✓

Each slicer belongs to a single field. To filter by Region and Year, you insert two slicers.

3. You click the button 'North' on a Region slicer. What happens?

A. The pivot table shows only North rows, and the pivot chart updates too ✓

B. The North button is deleted from the slicer

Clicking a slicer button filters the pivot table and its linked pivot chart. The other buttons stay available.

4. How do you select several buttons on a slicer at once?

A. Double-click the slicer title

B. Hold Ctrl and click each button ✓

Hold Ctrl while you click to pick more than one button. The pivot table then shows all of the selected items.

5. Which field is the best choice for a slicer?

A. Region, because it has a few categories to pick from ✓

B. Order ID, because it has hundreds of different values

Choose a field with a small number of clear categories. A slicer on a field with hundreds of values would be a huge, messy list of buttons.

Match the Pairs

Insert > Slicer → Adds a panel of buttons for one field that you click to filter the pivot table and its pivot chart.

Ctrl + click on slicer buttons → Selects several buttons at once so the pivot table shows more than one item, such as Red and Blue.

Choosing the field: make a slicer that filters by the house field → Insert > Slicer > tick house > OK

Slicer columns and size: show the buttons in 3 columns → Slicer tab > Columns: 3

Click a slicer button, then click another to select both → A normal click selects only one button. The second click replaces the first, so only one item is shown.

Insert > Slicer > tick house and year level to make one slicer with both fields → A slicer filters only one field. Ticking two fields creates two separate slicers, not one slicer with both.

Key Term

Insert > Slicer

Adds a panel of buttons for one field. Click a button to filter the pivot table and its pivot chart. Hold Ctrl to select several buttons at once.

Fill in the Blanks

1. Insert > Slicer

Hint: Type the command that adds a panel of buttons for filtering.

2. Insert > Slicer

Hint: Type the name of the ribbon tab that holds the slicer command.

3. Hold Ctrl and click to pick several buttons

Hint: Type the keyboard key held down to select more than one button.

4. Slicer tab > Columns sets buttons per row

Hint: Type the setting that spreads buttons across several side-by-side lanes.

5. Insert Slicers box: tick one field, then OK

Hint: Type the word for the single pivot table heading you choose to filter by.

Spot the Error

Question 1

A Click in the pivot table

B Go to Insert > Slicer

C Tick the Points total field

D Click OK

Line C — A slicer filters by a field of categories such as House. A calculated total like the sum of points gives no useful buttons. It should be: Tick the House field.

Question 2

A Click in the pivot table

B Go to Insert > Slicer

C Tick the Year field

D Click Cancel to add it

Line D — Cancel closes the Insert Slicers box without making a slicer. Click OK to add the slicer.

Question 3

A Click the slicer button Red

B Hold Ctrl and click Blue

C The table shows only Red

Line C — Holding Ctrl while clicking lets you select several buttons at once, so the pivot table shows both Red and Blue, not only Red.

Question 4

A Click the slicer

B Go to the Slicer tab

C Set Rows to 3

Line C — The Slicer tab has a Columns box that arranges the buttons in a grid. There is no Rows setting. It should be: Set Columns to 3.

Question 5

A Click the slicer

B Open the Slicer tab

C Find the Size group

D Type a new slicer Title

Line D — The Size group is where you set the slicer's Height and Width. Changing the title only changes the caption, not the size.

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