PivotTables · original practice scenario

Hide a selected PivotTable item through its filter

Build a PivotTable from Region/Units rows North/7, South/5 and North/3. Put Region on rows and Sum of Units in Values; start unfiltered.

Start here: An item label inside a PivotTable, not an ordinary source cell or a subtotal

Outside a PivotTable this key can delete cells. Confirm selection context and use a disposable source. Hidden items affect the visible report population.

Follow these instructions in your own desktop Excel workbook. This page explains the operation; it does not send commands to Excel.

Platform

Windows keys and context

Ctrl+-

Publisher-documented binding. Native desktop execution has not been tested.

Desktop key table and operation notes; reviewed 2026-10-18. Exceljet publisher reference ↗

Walk through the operation

Select the South item label inside the PivotTable.
Use the listed combination and inspect the row-label filter.
Confirm South is excluded; restore the filter and verify the original report returns.

Instruction 1 of 3: Select the South item label inside the PivotTable.

Expected result: The item is filtered out of the report while all three source records remain intact; restoring the filter recovers totals North 10 and South 5.

Recall the keys

Which listed Windows combination or sequence starts this operation in the context above?

Related walkthroughs

Browse all shortcut references →

Catalog updated 2026-10-18. US keyboard notation: + joins held keys; commas separate successive presses. Function keys may require Fn. Desktop instructions are separate from this browser's own keyboard shortcuts.