MS Excel has a powerful feature called Pivot table that can be used to provide a summary of a vast chunk of data. However, if you are not careful while creating the pivot table, you are likely to encounter the following error –
Pivot Table field name is not valid
In this article, let us discuss the causes of seeing this and possible fixes to overcome the Pivot Table field name is not valid error.
Pivot Table field name is not valid error
This error is mostly seen during the creation or when you try to refresh the pivot table. This happens when there are one or more blank heading columns in the data.
Consider the below data,
When you try to create a pivot table, you see an error as follows,
Fixes to solve the error – Pivot Table field name is not valid
Fix 1: Create an Excel Table from the data and then turn it into a Pivot Table
When an Excel Table is created, headings to the blank columns are added automatically.
Step 1: Select the required data
Step 2: Click on Insert from the top-menu
Step 3: Click on Table
Step 4: In the Create Table window that opens, verify the data range
Step 5: Click on OK
Fix 2: Verify the Range in the Create Pivot Table dialog box
At times, by mistake, the blank column next to the last column will be selected.
In the Create Pivot Table Dialog, under Select a table or range section, ensure that the range specified does not contain blank columns.
Fix 3: Check if columns with blank headings are hidden
Step 1: Select all the columns within the Pivot table and then right-click on it
Step 2: Choose Unhide from the context menu.
Fix 4: Unmerge the merged cells in Heading Row
Step 1: Identify the Merged Cell within the Heading Row and click on it
Step 2: From the top menu, click on Home
Step 3: Click on the downward arrow next to Merge & Center
Step 4: Choose Unmerge Cells
Fix 5: Check if the Heading name has overlapped with a blank heading next to it
Consider the below example, Serial Number from column A has overlapped B
Step 1: Click on each column and verify its content in the formula bar. Refer to the below example, A1 has the value Serial Number
Step 2: Repeat the same process and identify the blank cell.
Step 3: Once identified, give a suitable heading.
Things to remember to avoid the Pivot Table field name is not valid Error :
- Column Headings cannot be blank
- Proper range should be selected while creating the Pivot Table
- Blank columns shouldn’t be present in the range.
That’s All
We hope this article has been informative. Thank you for Reading.