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XL2000: Cannot Select Part of PivotTable as Source for Chart


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Symptoms

You cannot select part of a PivotTable as the source data for a chart.

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Cause

In Microsoft Excel, if you try to change the source data to part of a PivotTable for either of the following, the entire PivotTable is selected:
  • a chart made from data that is not a PivotTable

    -or-

  • a chart made in an earlier version of Excel from a PivotTable
You cannot select part of a PivotTable report as source data for a chart. This behavior is by design of Microsoft Excel.

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Workaround

To work around this problem, use either of the following methods.

Method 1: Use a PivotChart

When creating a chart based on data in a PivotTable report, use a PivotChart instead. To do this, select a cell in the PivotTable and click the Chart Wizard button on the PivotTable toolbar. Excel will create a new PivotChart on a new chart sheet. You can then use the drop-down list boxes in either the PivotChart or PivotTable to select and clear (check and uncheck) the data to be shown on the PivotChart and PivotTable.

Method 2: Type the New Reference

To change the data range in an existing chart, you cannot select a range of cells inside a PivotTable report. Instead, you must type the range in the Data range box. To change the data range, follow these steps:
  1. Click your Chart. On the Chart menu, click Source Data.
  2. Click in the Data range box, and press F2 to enter edit mode. Change the reference and click OK.

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More information

In earlier versions of Excel, you can select part of the data in a PivotTable to create charts.
For additional information about changing the source of a PivotChart, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
210737 XL2000: Cannot Change PivotChart Source Range

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References

For more information about PivotCharts, click Microsoft Excel Help on the Help menu, type Create a PivotChart report in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

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Keywords: KB221041, kbprb, kbchart

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Article Info
Article ID : 221041
Revision : 4
Created on : 9/25/2003
Published on : 9/25/2003
Exists online : False
Views : 256