9 Reasons You Should be Using Excel Tables

In this video, we demonstrate 9 reasons why you should be using tables in Excel.

Here are the timings for this video.
00:00 - Introduction
00:44 - Control the formatting of a table (**see comment below the timings)
02:08 - Convert a range to a table
05:25 - Name the table
06:25 - Headers stay on screen as you scroll
07:40 - Table expands automatically
09:05 - Using Slicers
10.22 - Summarise data with PivotTables
11:53 - Structured References with tables
15:08 - Clean & Transform data with Power Query
17:28 - Create relationships between tables

**my apologies for the 'structured references with tables' reason occurring twice in this video. I made a mistake when editing and used this section instead of the intended 'control the formatting of a table' reasons. Click Table Design and change and create your own styles in the table styles gallery. Tables will then take care of the future formatting for you.

The ability to format your range as a table has been in Excel for over 10 years. Yet many people that I train have never used them, or are aware of how useful they are.

In the video, we cover 9 main reasons for using them. The last 3 are quite special and should definitely be explored further.

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[krtana]

Excellent and interesting demo of how to use Excel much more effectively. I've never heard of most of this before, and have been referencing ranges and cells in my formulas. As I've been using big spreadsheets these tips will make the work I do far more efficient. Big thank you and thumbs up

[wayneedmondson]

Hi Alan.. great summary of the benefits of Excel tables. Another good feature is the ability to have auto totals of varying types (sum, average, min, max, count, etc.) at the bottom of each table column. Keyboard sequence is ALT-JT-T (pointer must be in table to start). I use that all the time. Thanks again and Thumbs up!

[bobabout]

Excellent summary. Very helpful👍
I have used tables but didn't appreciate the full extent of the benefits.
Naming I was advise to give the name a prefix e.g. "tOrders" so when typing the name you get a table not a "named range". Don't know if this is a good practice.

[velavanselvamani]

Really useful... keep posting the videos about Excel.... Your work is appreciated..

[kvlpnd]

I am currently using Excel table feature very extensively. I appreciate your video very much.

[EGC]

I like the brief high-level explanation without getting bogged down in details .. thanks

[RossMaynardProcessExcellence]

Very nicely done and "the butter to my bread" is phrase I'd never thought I'd hear in relation to Excel tables!

[gabosdad]

Thank You! Love your videos. Keep them coming. This one will save me about an hour a week of frustration!

[sasavienne]

Thanks for explaining the DAX. Data Expression Language which works only if a table is formated as an Excel table.

[jimkeifer]

This was awesome. I always wondered what the advantages were and now I know. Thank you for a great video.

[AlDunbar]

Very helpful video. One thing I found trying this out is that, in order for the table headings to replace the column letters in the excel sheet header, is that the header row of your table must have its first cell at A1.

[nooramin]

Fantastic Video done in an excellent manner.

[Divadosaurus]

Awesome, thanks. Never really used tables before - that's going to change. Also, I now have the song "Radio Gaga" going through my head.

[ubaidillahmuhammad]

Nice and good job. Please put all excel practiced files in the description.

[Coronet__]

Hi, great trying to find out how to add data to a table without having to type it in? When I copy it in my table it doesn't appear to be part of the table with banded rows, there a trick for that?

[alidakhil]

Thank you Sir, may I have the practice file please?

[ahrorkuldashev]

Love the very practical concepts you always discuss. Would be great if you can create such videos about possible problems with shared excel files and linking two workbooks together.

[AhmedHassan-imcq]

Very good sir!
Are there any videos on how to use Power Query Editor?

[ubaidillahmuhammad]

good job. Please put all excel practiced files in the description.

[StormyHotwolf]

Thank you so much! I can't believe I didn't even know about these.