If you are familiar with the Slicer feature, you likely already know about creating tables and PivotTables. After PivotTables, slicers are one of the most fundamental features for getting started with Excel dashboards.
What Are Slicers and What Are Their Benefits?
For a complete understanding, let’s review how Microsoft defines the Slicer feature.
Definition
What is a slicer? It is an advanced Excel filtering feature that provides buttons for filtering items in data formatted as a table or in a PivotTable.
Benefits
Excel slicers are very useful for visually analyzing and filtering data. This feature helps users understand data more easily. With slicers, you can quickly filter data and access the information you need faster. Slicers also significantly improve efficiency because users can view only the data they need. These benefits make Excel slicers an essential tool for data analysis.
The 10 benefits of slicers are as follows:
- You can quickly filter large amounts of data.
- You can analyze data visually, allowing you to quickly identify trends and patterns.
- Slicers make data easier to understand.
- You can immediately view filtered results, significantly improving work efficiency.
- Because users can view only the data they need, they can focus on their work.
- Slicers make complex data easier to manage.
- Slicers can filter data using various criteria, allowing you to analyze data according to your needs.
- When used with various charts, slicers can improve the accuracy and efficiency of data analysis.
- Slicers provide quick access to the information you need, helping with decision-making.
- When used with other Excel features, slicers can deliver even greater productivity.
How to Use Slicers (for Tables)
The following steps begin with creating a data table.
- Select the data range below and press “CTRL + T” to format it as a table.
- After creating the table, you can choose from various table designs, as shown below.
- Set a table name in the upper-left corner. Naming the table is a key part of using table features, so be sure to enter one.
- Click SLICER in the top menu.
- Now select the fields you want, as shown below.
- After you select the fields, the slicers are created using unique values for each field, excluding duplicates, as shown below.
- You can also choose a design for the slicers.
Conclusion
Excel slicers are very useful for visually analyzing and filtering data. They let you quickly filter data and access the information you need faster. Slicers can improve the accuracy and efficiency of data analysis. They can also filter data using various criteria, allowing you to analyze data according to your needs. These benefits make Excel slicers an essential tool for data analysis.