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PivotTable Slicers and Timelines: Clickable Filters in Excel

By , Excel & Data Analytics trainer LinkedIn Published: Last updated:

Rani's manager does not like filter drop-downs. He wants to click Pune and September and see the numbers change. Slicers give him city buttons, and a Timeline gives him a month bar. Both are just clickable filters on top of a PivotTable.

A slicer is a set of buttons that filters a PivotTable (or a Table) by one field. A timeline is a slicer made for dates: drag across months, quarters or days. One slicer can control several PivotTables built on the same data.

Download the practice file (pivottable-slicers-timelines.xlsx)

Excel file, 8 KB. It has the sample data used below. All numbers in this workbook are fictional teaching data, not real company figures.

Quick answer

  1. Click inside your PivotTable.
  2. Go to PivotTable Analyze > Insert Slicer, tick City, click OK.
  3. Go to PivotTable Analyze > Insert Timeline, tick Date, click OK.
  4. Click a city button; hold Ctrl to pick more than one.
  5. Clear a filter with the funnel-cross icon at the top right of the slicer (Alt + C).

Build the PivotTable first

  1. Click inside the sales table in the practice file (it is an Excel Table named Sales).
  2. Click Insert > PivotTable > OK (new worksheet).
  3. Drag Category to Rows and Amount to Values.
  4. Format Amount with Value Field Settings > Number Format > Currency.

Add a slicer and a timeline

  1. Click the PivotTable, then PivotTable Analyze > Insert Slicer and tick City.
  2. Click PivotTable Analyze > Insert Timeline and tick Date.
  3. In the timeline, change the level from MONTHS to QUARTERS or DAYS with the drop-down at its top right.
  4. Click Pune in the slicer and drag across SEP in the timeline.
  5. The PivotTable now shows Pune sales for September 2026: ₹3,150 in total.

Without any filter, Dairy sales are ₹32,200. The practice file has these check values worked out with SUMIFS so you can compare.

One slicer for several PivotTables

  1. Build a second PivotTable from the same table (for example City in Rows).
  2. Click the slicer, then Slicer > Report Connections.
  3. Tick both PivotTables and click OK.
  4. Now one click filters both. Dashboards use this to filter every chart together.

Make slicers look tidy

  • Slicer > Columns: set 3 to show the city buttons in a grid.
  • Slicer > Slicer Styles: pick a colour that matches your dashboard.
  • Slicer Settings > Hide items with no data removes empty buttons.
  • Right-click > Size and Properties > Don't move or size with cells keeps slicers in place when columns change.

Ravindra Bagale's Tip

Put slicers on the left or top of the dashboard, in the same place on every sheet. People learn where the filters are once and never hunt for them again.

Practice task

  1. Open the practice file and build a PivotTable from the Sales table: Category in Rows, Amount in Values.
  2. Insert a City slicer and a Date timeline.
  3. Filter Pune and September. Check the total is ₹3,150.
  4. Build a second PivotTable with City in Rows and connect the slicer to both.
  5. Clear all filters and check Dairy shows the value in the check cells.

Learn it properly

Course lessons:

Related guides: How to Create a PivotTable · Power Pivot Relationships: One PivotTable from Two Tables · Excel Table vs Normal Range: When to Use Ctrl + T

Frequently asked questions

Why is Insert Timeline greyed out?

The source has no real date column, or the PivotTable uses an old file format. Make sure the Date column holds real dates.

How do I connect a slicer to two PivotTables?

Click the slicer, then Slicer > Report Connections and tick both. They must use the same source data or Data Model.

Can I use a slicer without a PivotTable?

Yes. Click inside an Excel Table and use Table Design > Insert Slicer.

How do I select several items in a slicer?

Hold Ctrl and click, or turn on Multi-Select (Alt + S) at the top of the slicer.