Where is my calculated field in PowerPivot

Where is my calculated field in PowerPivot

If you create a calculated field (DAX measue) in PowerPivot you may discover that you can’t find it when you try and use it in a Pivot Table. I have often asked myself where is my calculated field in PowerPivot.

Related: Learn how to use PowerPivot

The main reason for this is generally a bit of laziness in the beginning of the process when we created the Calculated Field or Dax Measure.

When you create a calculated field it would look something like the image below.

For this particular issue it is the first red arrow that is important. It is easy to ignore this and just assume that Excel will place your calculated field in the most appropriate table. But it doesn’t, it just places it in the first one.

Because Calculated Fields can span across all tables, they can also exist in all tables. It is important that you specify which table you would prefer the calculated field to exist in, so that when you look at the fields in the Pivot Tables you will be able to find the appropriate calculations.

You can edit where the Calculated Field is after the fact by editing the field and changing where it resides.