Formatting PivotTable cells using data bars

When you summarize numerical data using a PivotTable, Excel displays the values…with either no formatting, which can make the numbers difficult to interpret, or…using a number format.…In both cases, to get an idea of how two values compare you must visually…estimate the number of digits used to express the values and if they're of the…same length, focus on the individual digits.…Comparing two numbers isn't difficult, but comparing a few dozen or more can be confusing.…In Excel, you can add color bars to a cell's background.…The length of the bar reflects the relative magnitude of the value in the cell.…

To create a color bar, click any data cell in the body of the PivotTable and then…on the Home tab click the Conditional Formatting button, then point to Data Bars,…and then select the type of data bar that you want to create.…And there are two different groups within this palette. The first one is the…Gradient Fill and the second is the Solid Fill.…Gradient fills taper off as they move to the right, so it actually makes it…