In this article:

How to Add Two-Tier Row Labels to the Pivot Table in Google Sheets

May 8, 2024

Let’s say we have the following raw data:

Raw data to be summarized using a Pivot Table.


And we want to summarize this into a Pivot Table. You can arrive at the following:

Original Pivot Table with one-tier row labels.


If you look back at the raw data, there are two columns that can be used to organize the pivot table: the item and the date. The item column was used in the first Pivot Table to summarize the data. The second column, the date column, can also be added as the second row header column to the Pivot Table. In this tutorial, we will learn how to achieve this:

Snippet of the same Pivot Table but with two-tier row labels. 


How to add the second-tier row labels to the Pivot Table

Here are the steps to add the second-tier row label as the second column in the Pivot Table:


Step 1: Click on any cell in the Pivot Table so that the Pivot table editor sidebar appears on the right side of Google Sheets. 

Pivot Table, with Pivot table editor sidebar visible.


As you can see, the item column is used as the row labels or headers in the Pivot table. 


Step 2: Click Add button on the Rows header in the Pivot table editor sidebar. 

Pivot table editor sidebar, Add button besides Row label encircled.


A drop-down box of the list of columns will appear. Select the column you want to use. For our case, we want to select the date column.

Pivot table editor sidebar, Add button besides Row label selected, date option selected from drop-down box.


The final Pivot Table can be seen below:

Pivot Table with two-tier row labels. 


How to rearrange the hierarchy of the row label tiers

In our original two-tier row labels Pivot Table, the item names are at the first level while the dates are at the second level. As you might have figured out, it will make more sense if the dates are set as the first level label while the item names are at the second level. To do so, go to the list of Rows on the Pivot table editor sidebar, then drag the Dates box up, flipping the order. The result is shown below.

Pivot Table two-tier row labels, with the date now being the first row labels and the item names being the second row labels.

How to hide the second-tier row labels 


Sometimes you need to temporarily hide the second-tier row labels. To do so, simply click the small box with the minus sign below the first level row label:

Pivot table with two-tier labels. The second level label expanded.


The result is:

Pivot table with two-tier labels. The second level label under July 14 hidden.


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