XL97: Limits of PivotTables in Microsoft Excel 97

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

SUMMARY

This article discusses some of the limitations of PivotTables in Microsoft Excel 97.

MORE INFORMATION

In Microsoft Excel, PivotTables are interactive tables that quickly summarize, or cross-tabulate, large amounts of data. Within a PivotTable, you can rotate its rows and columns to see different summaries of the source data, filter the data by displaying different pages, or display the details for areas of interest.

What Are the Limits of PivotTables That I Should Know About?

The following limits apply to PivotTables in Microsoft Excel:

   Maximum Size
   ------------
   In PivotTables in Microsoft Excel, there is no fixed maximum size. The
   maximum size is usually limited only by the amount of available memory
   in your computer.

   Column Fields
   -------------
   The product of the number of items in all column fields within a
   PivotTable cannot exceed 32768.

   For example, suppose you create a PivotTable that contains five column
   fields. The fields contain 10, 5, 2, 40, and 3 items respectively. The
   product of these values is 10 x 5 x 2 x 40 x 3, or 12000.

   If you tried to add one more field that contained 3 items, the product
   would be 12000 x 3, or 36000. Since this exceeds the maximum product,
   you would receive the error message:

      Not enough memory to completely display PivotTable.

   Note that worksheets in Microsoft Excel are limited to 256 columns.
   Because of this, even if you are successful in creating a PivotTable
   that contains a large number of column fields, you may not be able to
   display the entire expanded PivotTable.

   Row Fields
   ----------
   The product of the number of items in all row fields within a
   PivotTable cannot exceed 2^31 (2 raised to the 31st power), or
   approximately 2.1 billion. The same logic that applies to column
   fields also applies to row fields.

   Maximum Number of Records
   -------------------------
   There is no fixed maximum number of records that can be used when
   creating a PivotTable.

   In practice, creating a PivotTable from an external database that
   contains a very large number of records can be a great strain on
   the workstation where Microsoft Excel is running, and can take a
   very long time to complete.

   If you are creating a PivotTable from a very large database, you may
   want to use server page fields in your PivotTable. See the next section
   for information on how to use server page fields in PivotTables.

How Can I Keep from Running into These Limits?

One way to avoid running into these limits is to use page fields in PivotTables, especially if fields contain more than 40 unique items. Using page fields makes your PivotTable more memory-efficient and reduces the size (in cells) of the PivotTable, making it easier to read.

Another way to optimize your PivotTable is to use server page fields.

For additional information on how to use server page fields in Microsoft Excel, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q157488
   TITLE     : XL97: Using Server Page Fields in PivotTables

REFERENCES

For more information about PivotTables in Microsoft Excel, click the Index tab in Microsoft Excel Help, type the following text

   PivotTables, overview