Applies ToExcel for Microsoft 365 Excel 2024 Excel 2021 Excel 2019 Excel 2016

Power Pivot is an add-in that you can use to perform powerful data analysis in Excel. The add-in is built into certain versions of Office, but by default, it's not enabled.  

For a list of the versions of Office that include Power Pivot, as well as a list of the versions that do not, please see: Where is Power Pivot?

Here’s how you enable Power Pivot before using it for the first time.

  1. Go to File > Options > Add-Ins.

  2. In the Manage box, click COM Add-ins> Go.

  3. Check the Microsoft Office Power Pivot box, and then click OK. If you have other versions of the Power Pivot add-in installed, those versions are also listed in the COM Add-ins list. Be sure to select the Power Pivot add-in for Excel.

The ribbon now has a Power Pivot tab.

Power Pivot ribbon

Open the Power Pivot window

  1. Click Power Pivot.

    This is the tab where you work with Power Pivot PivotTables, calculated fields, and key performance indicators (KPIs), and creating linked tables.

  2. Click Manage.

    Manage button on the Power Pivot ribbon

Now you’re in the Power Pivot window. Here you can click Get External Data to use the Table Import Wizard to filter data as you add it to your file, create relationships between tables, enrich the data with calculations and expressions, and then use this data to create PivotTables and PivotCharts.

Power Pivot window

More about Power Pivot.

Troubleshooting: Power Pivot ribbon disappears

In rare cases, the Power Pivot ribbon will disappear from the menu if Excel determines that the add-in is destabilizing to Excel. This might occur if Excel closes unexpectedly while the Power Pivot window is open. To restore the Power Pivot menu, do the following:

  1. Go to File > Options > Add-Ins.

  2. In the Manage box, click Disabled Items > Go.

  3. Select Microsoft Office Power Pivot and then click Enable.

If the previous steps do not restore the Power Pivot ribbon, or if the ribbon disappears when you close and reopen Excel, try the following:

  1. Close Excel.

  2. Point to Start > Run and then type regedit.

  3. In Registry Editor, expand this registry key:

    If you have Excel 2016: HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Office > 16.0 > User Settings

  4. Right-click PowerPivotExcelAddin and then click Delete.

  5. Scroll back up to the top of Registry Editor.

  6. Expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Office > Excel > Addins.

  7. Right-click PowerPivotExcelClientAddIn.NativeEntry.1 and then click Delete.

  8. Close Registry Editor.

  9. Open Excel.

  10. Enable the add-in using the steps at the top of this article.

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