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Introducing Pivot Tables in Interfaces

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Rosalind_Lutsky
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi there! I’m Rosalind – a product marketing manager at Airtable focused on helping teams build powerful, custom applications that make work more efficient. I’m eager to share that we have just launched support for pivot tables in interfaces!

Starting today, all users on a Teams plan or higher will have access to pivot tables directly in interfaces.

What is a pivot table?

A pivot table is a powerful data analysis tool for succinctly summarizing and analyzing large datasets. The format of a pivot table lets you rearrange and aggregate data dynamically, making it easier to identify patterns, trends, and insights. 

Historically, the only way to use pivot tables in Airtable was via the Pivot table extension. With the launch of this new feature, you can easily add pivot tables directly to an interface page without relying on an extension.

How can you use a pivot table?

Aggregate and summarize your data. Pivot tables allow for the aggregation and summarization of large datasets into manageable blocks of information. You can use a pivot table to quickly condense vast amounts of data into meaningful summaries, such as totals, averages, counts, and percentages.

Explore your data from multiple perspectives. Pivot tables offer dynamic analysis capabilities, making it easy to slice and dice your data in different ways. With the ability to rearrange specific fields, you can quickly switch between different dimensions and hierarchies to uncover patterns, trends, and outliers.

Customize how your data is displayed. Pivot tables provide a high degree of customization and flexibility, allowing you to tailor your analysis to fit your team’s specific needs and preferences. From adjusting layouts and formats to applying filters and sorting, pivot tables give you full control over how your data is presented and analyzed – making it easier to derive actionable insights.

Where can you access pivot tables in Airtable?

Initially, pivot tables will only be supported in dashboard layouts. To add a pivot table to a dashboard, open the “+ Add to group” menu and select “Pivot table”

PT_Example_2.png

 

For more information on selecting row and column groupings, splitting multiple values, determining what is displayed in your table, and accessing underlying records from a pivot table, you can read through the support article on the dashboard layout here.

We’re excited to see what you can do with pivot tables! As we continue to add new features to interfaces, we’ll be sure to keep you updated here and on our What’s New page.

24 Comments
Kelly_OShaughne
Airtable Employee
Airtable Employee

@bsimpson_1015 we don't have any plans at the moment to add the pivot table element to the base, as we are investing in dashboarding through Interfaces moving forward given they are a much more visually appealing surface for both reporting and collaborating. The pivot table extension is still available in the data tab, though. 

changirene
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

This is great! But why can't i use it in a normal interface board? =( 

Bettina_Horvat1
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

It would be nice, if the table height would be adjustable, fixed or expand with number of records. It's very limited at the moment, only 9 rows are shown and there is no way to extend it as far as I can see. Nothing else on the page so looks really weird apart from being annoying having to scroll when there is actually enough space to display all rows in the table. 

Bettina_Horvat1
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

Oh wait, I saw now the arrow in the published table that extends all the rows, but no scroll bar for the width. 

gaston
6 - Interface Innovator
6 - Interface Innovator

@Rosalind_Lutsky it would be great to be able to create charts out of pivot tables.

ScottWorld
18 - Pluto
18 - Pluto

@Rosalind_Lutsky @Kelly_OShaughne 


We love the pivot tables in Airtable’s dashboard interfaces, but many of my clients are having a big usability problem with them.
 
I’ve created a Loom video for you here to describe the usability problem:

https://www.loom.com/share/e707412fb99c4131a2cf7a6f52d84b2d?sid=b2c895f2-c0e4-42bd-82cf-93371e32517d

— ScottWorld, Expert Airtable Consultant Since 2018

Kelly_OShaughne
Airtable Employee
Airtable Employee

@ScottWorld thank you so much for taking the time to create this Loom! Incredibly clear and helpful. I actually ran into this myself a few weeks ago; it's helpful to have more validation on this need. I will take this back to the team!

ScottWorld
18 - Pluto
18 - Pluto

Thanks so much, @Kelly_OShaughne!

Zack_Snyder
Airtable Employee
Airtable Employee
We just launched a couple quality of life improvements for pivot tables in Interfaces!
  • You can now toggle the visibility of the labels of the axes (they are shown in the top-left cell in the pivot table)
  • You can now toggle the visibility of the row and column totals (the bottom row and right-most column in the pivot table, respectively)

You can learn more in the support article on the dashboard layout

matt_stewart1
7 - App Architect
7 - App Architect

@Zack_Snyder  ... any chance we can get a download as CSV for pivot tables in interfaces? this is a critical need for my teams.