# Simple (for y'all) Access/Excel question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 15, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-for-yall-access-excel-question/701426 "2014-10-15T19:08:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-for-yall-access-excel-question/701426/1 "2014-10-15T19:08:38Z")
Access/Excel because they’re the tools I have… I have a table with the following fields: First Name Last Name Phone Number (Other fields too, but these are the important ones for this exercise) I then have the following data pattern throughout the table: John Smith 210-555-1234 Mary Smith 210-555-1234 Cecil Adams 210-000-1111 Jane Adams 210-000-1111 Kid Adams 210-000-1111 I essentially want to create a table/report that combines the names according to the field “Phone” so that I end up with: Name1, Name2, Name3 Phone John Smith, Mary Smith, (blank), 210-555-1234 Cecil Adams, Jane Adams, Kid Adams, 210-000-1111 I don’t have a problem doing this in either program, just whatever you think is easier/better. Thanks in advance for your help! ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-for-yall-access-excel-question/701426/2 "2014-10-15T19:27:41Z")
A PivotTable is a super fast way to do this as long as: 1. The formatting can be a bit flexible (like phone number, last name, firstnames) instead of the way you listed it 2. Your phone numbers are all formatted the same way so that 123-123-1234 is the same as (123) 123-1234 Example: > **[Microsoft OneDrive - Access files anywhere. Create docs with free Office Online.](https://onedrive.live.com/redir?page=view&resid=9867ED46F373003E%213478&authkey=%21ADdGp1Bg4gmMH3g)** > > Store photos and docs online. Access them from any PC, Mac or phone. Create and work together on Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-for-yall-access-excel-question/701426/3 "2014-10-15T19:35:07Z")
(I edited it after posting, so just refresh it to see the latest version as of 12:34 PM PST) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-for-yall-access-excel-question/701426/4 "2014-10-15T21:38:09Z")
Man, there’s nothing I can do that makes my table look like that. For some reason, once I make “Phone” my Row Label, all my entries become column headers… and the various instructions I see on the web show the same result. So instead of getting column headers like “Phone”, “Name”, “Address” I get “Phone”, “John Smith”, “Mary Smith”, “Cecil Adams”, “Jane Adams”, etc… Actually, “Phone” doesn’t even appear as a column header. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-for-yall-access-excel-question/701426/5 "2014-10-15T22:35:53Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Man, there’s nothing I can do that makes my table look like that. For some reason, once I make “Phone” my Row Label, all my entries become column headers… and the various instructions I see on the web show the same result. > > So instead of getting column headers like “Phone”, “Name”, “Address” I get “Phone”, “John Smith”, “Mary Smith”, “Cecil Adams”, “Jane Adams”, etc… Actually, “Phone” doesn’t even appear as a column header. Everything should be row headers. All the other fields (value, columns, filters) should be blank. Phones goes on top, and then last name, and then first name. Then you should see them all grouped in sort of an outline form. In the PivotTable toolbar up top, you can then change the display to “Tabular” mode to have it more horizontal and less outline-y. If that doesn’t make sense, try posting your file somewhere so we can take a look. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-for-yall-access-excel-question/701426/6 "2014-10-16T00:19:55Z")
That’s it! Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2014, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-for-yall-access-excel-question/701426/7 "2014-10-16T07:07:30Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > That’s it! Thank you! It worked? Hurray! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-for-yall-access-excel-question/701426/8 "2014-10-16T22:34:05Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > That’s it! Thank you! Wait, so you didn’t need all the names on one line, with the phone number following? That’s how I read the request.