Structure
A pivot has four wells. Rows and Columns create the grid. Values holds what gets aggregated. Filters applies a page-level filter.
Build it on a Table, not a fixed range, so the source grows automatically. Refresh with right-click → Refresh, or Ctrl+Alt+F5 for everything.
Value settings
Double-click a value field to change summarisation — Sum, Count, Average, Max, Min, Count Distinct (needs the Data Model).
The Show Values As tab is the underused half. % of Grand Total, % of Parent Row, Difference From, Running Total, Rank. These answer questions that would otherwise need helper columns and formulas.
Grouping
Right-click a date field → Group to roll up by month, quarter or year. Modern Excel does this automatically when it detects dates.
Numeric fields can be grouped into bins — right-click, Group, set the start, end and interval. That is the fastest way to build a histogram-style summary without a formula.
Slicers and timelines
Slicers are visual filters. Insert one, then use Report Connections to wire it to several pivots at once so a dashboard filters together.
Timelines are the date-specific version with a draggable range. Both are far more usable than the Filters well for anything someone else will operate.
GETPIVOTDATA
Clicking a pivot cell in a formula generates GETPIVOTDATA(...) rather than a plain reference. It is robust — it keeps pointing at the right figure when the pivot layout changes — but it does not fill down.
Turn it off via PivotTable Analyze → Options → Generate GetPivotData when you want ordinary references.