This article is for people who use a screen reader program such as Windows Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with Windows tools or features and Microsoft 365 products. This article is part of the Accessibility help & learning content set where you can find more accessibility information on our apps. For general help, visit Microsoft Support.
Use Excel with your keyboard and a screen reader to add or remove fields in a PivotTable using the PivotTable Fields pane. We have tested it with Narrator, NVDA, and JAWS, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques. You'll also learn how to rearrange the fields to change the design of a PivotTable.
Notes:
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
In this topic
Open the PivotTable Fields pane manually
The PivotTable Fields pane should automatically appear when you place the cursor anywhere in the PivotTable. To move the focus to the pane, press F6 repeatedly until you hear: "PivotTable fields, Type field name to search for." If you do not hear that and the focus cycles back to the selected cell instead, you need to manually open the pane.
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Place the cursor in any cell in your PivotTable.
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Press Alt+J, T, then L. The PivotTable Fields pane opens.
Add fields to a PivotTable
In the PivotTable Fields pane, you can pick the fields you want to show in your PivotTable.
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On the worksheet with the PivotTable, place the cursor in any cell in your PivotTable, and press F6 until you hear: "PivotTable fields, Type field name to search for."
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To browse the list of available fields, use the Down or Up arrow key. You hear the name of the field and if it's unselected or selected. Unselected fields are announced as "Checkbox unchecked."
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When you land on an unselected field you want to add to your PivotTable, press Spacebar. The field and its data are added to the PivotTable on the worksheet grid. Repeat this step to all fields you want to add to the PivotTable.
The fields you select are added to their default areas: non-numeric fields are added to Rows, date and time hierarchies are added to Columns, and numeric fields are added to Values.
Remove fields from a PivotTable
In the PivotTable Fields pane, you can unselect the fields you don't want to show in your PivotTable. Removing a field from a PivotTable doesn't remove the field from the PivotTable Fields pane or delete the source data.
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On the worksheet with the PivotTable, place the cursor in any cell in your PivotTable, and press F6 until you hear: "PivotTable fields, Type field name to search for."
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To browse the list of available fields, use the Down or Up arrow key. You hear the name of the field and if it's unselected or selected. Selected fields are announced as "Checkbox checked."
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When you land on a selected field you want to remove from your PivotTable, press Spacebar. The field and its data are removed from the PivotTable. Repeat this step to all fields you want to remove from the PivotTable.
Arrange fields in a PivotTable
To rearrange the fields to match how you want them displayed in the PivotTable, you can move a field from one area to another. You can also move a field up or down within an area.
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In the PivotTable Fields pane, press the Tab key until you hear the name of the field you want to move, followed by "Button."
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Press Spacebar to open the context menu.
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Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the option you want, for example, "Move to column labels" or "Move up," and press Enter. The PivotTable on the grid is updated accordingly.
The fields in the different areas in the PivotTable Fields pane are shown in the PivotTable as follows:
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The fields in the Filters area are shown as top-level report filters above the PivotTable.
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The fields in the Columns area are shown as Column Labels at the top of the PivotTable. Depending on the hierarchy of the fields, columns might be nested inside other columns that are higher in the hierarchy.
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The fields in the Rows area are shown as Row Labels on the left side of the PivotTable. Depending on the hierarchy of the fields, rows might be nested inside other rows that are higher in the hierarchy.
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The fields in the Values area are shown as summarized numeric values in the PivotTable.
See also
Use a screen reader to filter data in a PivotTable in Excel
Use a screen reader to group or ungroup data in a PivotTable in Excel
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Excel
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Excel for the web with your keyboard and a screen reader to add or remove fields in a PivotTable using the PivotTable Fields pane. We have tested it with Narrator in Microsoft Edge and JAWS and NVDA in Chrome, but it might work with other screen readers and web browsers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques. You'll also learn how to rearrange the fields to change the design of a PivotTable.
Notes:
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If you use Narrator with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you have to turn off scan mode in order to edit documents, spreadsheets, or presentations with Microsoft 365 for the web. For more information, refer to Turn off virtual or browse mode in screen readers in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.
-
New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
-
To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
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When you use Excel for the web, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. Because Excel for the web runs in your web browser, the keyboard shortcuts are different from those in the desktop program. For example, you’ll use Ctrl+F6 instead of F6 for jumping in and out of the commands. Also, common shortcuts like F1 (Help) and Ctrl+O (Open) apply to the web browser – not Excel for the web.
In this topic
Open the PivotTable Fields pane manually
The PivotTable Fields pane should automatically appear when you place the cursor anywhere in the PivotTable. If you press Shift+Ctrl+F6 repeatedly, but don't hear "Close button," you need to manually open the pane.
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In Excel for the web, press F11 to switch to the full screen mode.
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In your PivotTable, place the cursor in any cell.
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To show the PivotTable Fields pane, do one of the following:
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Press Alt+Windows logo key, J, T, and then L.
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Press Shift+F10 or the Windows Menu key, press the Down or Right arrow key until you hear "Show field list," and then press Enter.
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Add fields to a PivotTable
In the PivotTable Fields pane, you can pick the fields you want to show in your PivotTable.
-
In Excel for the web, press F11 to switch to the full screen mode.
-
To move the focus to the PivotTable Fields pane, press Shift+Ctrl+F6 until you hear: "Close button." The focus is on the Close button in the PivotTable Fields pane.
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In the PivotTable Fields pane, to move the focus to the list of fields, press the Tab key until you hear the first field in the list. With JAWS and NVDA, you also hear whether the field checkbox is checked or unchecked. With Narrator, to hear if the checkbox is checked or not, press the SR key+Right arrow key repeatedly until Narrator announces the field and the checkbox.
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To browse the list of fields, use the Down or Up arrow key.
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When the focus is on a field you want to add to your PivotTable, press Spacebar. The selected field and its data are added to the PivotTable on the worksheet grid. Repeat this step to the fields you want to add to the PivotTable.
The fields you select are added to their default areas: non-numeric fields are added to Rows, date and time hierarchies are added to Columns, and numeric fields are added to Values.
Remove fields from a PivotTable
In the PivotTable Fields pane, you can unselect the fields you don't want to show in your PivotTable. Removing a field from a PivotTable doesn't remove the field from the PivotTable Fields pane or delete the source data.
-
In Excel for the web, press F11 to switch to the full screen mode.
-
To move the focus to the PivotTable Fields pane, press Shift+Ctrl+F6 until you hear: "Close button." The focus is on the Close button in the PivotTable Fields pane.
-
In the PivotTable Fields pane, to move the focus to the list of fields, press the Tab key until you hear the first field in the list. With JAWS and NVDA, you also hear whether the field checkbox is checked or unchecked. With Narrator, to hear if the checkbox is checked or not, press the SR key+Right arrow key until Narrator announces the field and the checkbox.
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To browse the list of fields, use the Down or Up arrow key.
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When the focus is on a field you want to remove from your PivotTable, press Spacebar. The field and its data are removed from the PivotTable. Repeat this step to the fields you want to remove from the PivotTable.
Arrange fields in a PivotTable
To rearrange the fields the way you want to display them in the PivotTable, you can move a field from one area to another. You can also move a field up or down within an area.
-
In Excel for the web, press F11 to switch to the full screen mode.
-
To move the focus to the PivotTable Fields pane, press Shift+Ctrl+F6 until you hear: "Close button." The focus is on the Close button in the PivotTable Fields pane.
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In the PivotTable Fields pane, press the Tab key until you hear the name of the area that contains the field you want to move, followed by "Has pop-up." You hear, for example, "Rows," followed by a field name, and "Has pop-up."
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When the focus is on the area you want, press the Down or Up arrow key until you hear the name of the field you want to move.
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When the focus is on the right field, press Alt+Down arrow key to expand the context menu.
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Press the Up, Down, Right, or Left arrow key until you hear the option you want, for example, "Move to columns," and then press Enter. The PivotTable on the worksheet grid is updated accordingly.
The fields in the different areas in the PivotTable Fields pane are shown in the PivotTable as follows:
-
The fields in the Filters area are shown as top-level report filters above the PivotTable.
-
The fields in the Columns area are shown as Column Labels at the top of the PivotTable. Depending on the hierarchy of the fields, columns might be nested inside other columns that are higher in the hierarchy.
-
The fields in the Rows area are shown as Row Labels on the left side of the PivotTable. Depending on the hierarchy of the fields, rows might be nested inside other rows that are higher in the hierarchy.
-
The fields in the Values area are shown as summarized numeric values in the PivotTable.
See also
Use a screen reader to create a PivotTable or PivotChart in Excel
Use a screen reader to filter data in a PivotTable in Excel
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Excel
Technical support for customers with disabilities
Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.
If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.
