Pivot Table Widget (CX)

Suite
Customer Experience Strategy & Research
Product
Qualtrics
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About Pivot Table Widgets

Warning: This widget is being deprecated and is no longer supported. Brands created after April 9, 2026 cannot create pivot table widgets. For the same functionality with a more flexible setup, use the table widget.

The pivot table widget allows you to create a crosstab between multiple fields. Each cell displays the chosen metric value that corresponds with both the row and column value for that cell. For example, you may wish to display the number of respondents from a given airport that fall into each of the three NPS categories.
 

Pivot Table widget
Pivot Table widget


 

Field Type Compatibility

The pivot table widget is compatible with the following field types:

Only fields with the above type will be available when selecting the rows and columns for the pivot table.

Qtip: Pivot tables have a limit of 8,000 dimensions (or cells) within the table. To calculate the dimensions in a pivot table, multiply the number of fields values in the table’s rows by the number of metrics used as the table’s columns. For example, let’s say you display two fields, each with 60 values. You also display 5 metrics. To calculate the number of dimensions, multiply 60 x 60 x 5 = 18,000. Since this is over the limit, the table will display an error. To reduce the number of dimensions in your pivot table, either remove some rows and columns, or add a widget filter.
 

a pivot table displaying the error that there are too many dimensions
a pivot table displaying the error that there are too many dimensions

Widget Customization

For basic widget instructions and customization, visit the Building Widgets support page. Continue reading for pivot table-specific customization.

Formatting Rules

Adding formatting rules to your metric allows you to specify how values in a certain range are formatted on the pivot table – for example, bolding results or changing their color once they fit within a certain numeric range. This is useful if you would like to be able to easily differentiate cells on the table based on their value. To access formatting rules:

Click the desired metric.
image of how to reach formatting rules in a metric for a pivot table
image of how to reach formatting rules in a metric for a pivot table
Select the Options tab at the top of the metric window.
Click Edit Rules under Formatting Rules.
Click Add Rule to add a new formatting rule.
image of the add rule button in the formatting rules window
image of the add rule button in the formatting rules window
Configure your rule. Use the A button to specify the formatting you’d like to apply. Select a condition from the dropdown and enter a numeric value in the entry box.
image of the formatting rules editor screen
image of the formatting rules editor screen
Use the + sign to add additional formatting rules and the – sign to delete rules.

Display Options

If your pivot table contains rows of data that have no corresponding values in the selected columns, you can hide these rows by leaving Show missing values unchecked. This option is useful if you want to consolidate your pivot table and omit rows with no corresponding data.
 

Pivot Table Display Options - Show Missing Values setting
Pivot Table Display Options - Show Missing Values setting

Significance Testing in Pivot Tables

You can enable significance testing in a pivot table when you use the top box/bottom box metric and a single value on the x-axis.  Once you have these, follow the steps below to enable significance testing.

Qtip: You can get a single value on the x-axis by having a top / bottom box metric, no row dimension, and whatever you want set for your column dimension.

Click on the Top Box/Bottom Box metric and select Options.
Significance Testing checkbox and Confidence Interval dropdown
Significance Testing checkbox and Confidence Interval dropdown
Select the checkbox next to Enable Significance Testing.
Click on the dropdown menu and select your Confidence Interval.

The confidence interval indicates how confident you would like to be that the results generated through the analysis match the general population.

Once you have enabled significance testing, you might notice red and green arrows in your pivot table.
 

Red and Green arrows on Pivot Table
Red and Green arrows on Pivot Table

The arrows are determined by the adjusted residual of each cell. Pivot tables show up to three arrows, depending on the p-value calculated from the adjusted residual. A different number of arrows will be shown depending on the degree of significance of the result. Specifically, one arrow is shown if the p-value is less than alpha (?) where ? = (1 – Confidence Interval), two arrows if the p-value is less than ?/5, and three arrows if the p-value is less than ?/50.

For example, if your confidence level was set to 95%:

p-value <= .05: one arrow

p-value <= .01: two arrows

p-value <= .001: three arrows

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