Like regular tables, pivot tables are used to display data in more detail. However, they have the added advantage of allowing you to analyse data by crossing multiple dimensions simultaneously.
In this post, we will continue using the dataset of top 2019 movies.
1. Example
Imagine that you want to see the number of movies released by distributor and main genre, with the distributor in the rows and the genre in the columns. This wouldn’t be possible using a simple table, as each dimension would become a different column. To cross your dimensions by showing some as rows and others as columns, you need to use pivot tables.
Add a pivot table and choose Distributor as the row dimension, Top Genre 1 as the column dimension, and Record count as the metric. You can visit the post on how to add charts to your report in Looker Studio, if you need a refresher.

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Record count counts the number of rows. Since we have one movie per row, in this case, it’s the same as the number of movies.
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Here you can see that Universal Pictures released the highest number of movies (14) among the top-grossing ones, with its top genres being animation (3 movies) and comedy (also 3). Sony Pictures Releasing is in second place with 11 movies, including 2 in action and 2 in comedy, among other genres.
If you had chosen a simple table, both the distributor and genre dimensions would appear as columns, but with the pivot table, one is displayed as rows and the other as columns.
2. Specific Customisation Options for the Chart
Within Set-up, you can enable Show grand total for the rows and Show grand total for the columns, which will display a row and a column with the totals.


Additionally, you can choose which field determines the order of both the first row and the first column.

Like simple tables, pivot tables allow you to represent metrics with bars or heatmaps. You can configure this within Style by going to the metric’s column. In this case, we’ll choose to represent it with bars and select Show number, otherwise, the bars will appear without the values.


To view columns with bars, instead of following the previous step, you can directly choose the chart called Pivot table with bars. If you’d prefer to see them as a heatmap, you can select Pivot table with heatmap.
Within Style, you can apply conditional formatting to your cells, where they will show different colors depending on the value of the metric. You can do this by clicking Add under Conditional formatting.

For example, if you want the cells with 3 or more movies to be painted green, you would do it like this:

And the conditional formatting rule for cells with 3 or more movies will apply to your pivot table, and those cells will be painted green.

Conditional formatting is also available in other charts, not just pivot tables. To see if it’s available for a specific visualisation, you need to go to the Style tab of the chart. If Conditional formatting appears at the top, then it is available.
What do you think of the options available for pivot tables in Looker Studio? Do you use them often?