How to Create a Timeline Filter in Excel

Excel has a variety of methods for sorting and displaying data, making it easy to sort dates and view entries in chronological order. But if you need a more comprehensive and dynamic display, you might as well organize the data into a timeline.

The Excel Timeline tool is an excellent way to present projects and their milestones or visualize data trends over time. This article will guide you on how to create a timeline filter in Excel.

Preparation

Before creating a data timeline filter, it needs to be converted to a pivot table. PivotTables are a powerful tool for organizing large amounts of data for easy analysis, filtering, and (in this case) viewing on the timeline. The method of creating a pivot table is as follows:

1. Select a cell in the spreadsheet.

2. Navigate to the Insert tab and click the PivotTable option.

3. In the pop-up window, make sure that the entire data table is selected, including the title. You can also export this new pivot table to a new worksheet. Click OK when you are finished.

4. The PivotTable will be created. In the new window on the right side of the screen, you will see the fields of the table. Any date column will be detected and broken down into smaller units (quarters, months, dates). Select any field you want to display and drag between boxes to format the pivot table.

5. Left-click any field you want to remove from the box and select Remove Field from the context menu.

6. Once done, you can close the window. You can reopen it at any time via the PivotTable Analysis tab.

Create an Excel Timeline Filter

Now that your data is correctly formatted and sorted by your preferences, you can insert the timeline filter. The specific steps are as follows:

1. Select any cell in the PivotTable and select Timeline from the Insert tab.

2. In the pop-up window, select the specific time column you want the timeline filter to sort by. Click OK.

3. The timeline will be inserted into your worksheet. You can reposition it as needed.

4. By clicking on the time unit on the timeline filter, you can view data belonging to that time period.

Format the timeline filter in Excel

After creating the timeline filter, you can adjust it as needed:

• The drop-down list in the upper right corner of the timeline allows you to arrange data based on specific time units, provided that they are included in the pivot table.

• You can drag the time bar left and right to select multiple time bars.

• Like the inserted chart, you can adjust the size and position of the timeline filter.
• Once the Timeline filter is selected, you can use the Timeline tab displayed in the menu to adjust its style and various other settings.

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