[3 Fixes] Excel PivotTable Report Cannot Overlap Error

Have you ever faced such a situation where after updating the Pivot Table data source when you refreshed the table you are getting thePivotTable report cannot overlap another PivotTable report” error?

Do you know why you are getting such Overlap Error In Pivot Table? Or how to find which Pivot Table Is Overlapping? Or how to fix PivotTable report cannot overlap another PivotTable report error?

If your answer is “No” then go through this post to get answers to all these queries.

What’s This PivotTable Report Cannot Overlap Error Means?

PivotTable Report cannot overlap error is an indication that your pivot table is either trying to expand vertically or horizontally. This will end up overlapping data with another pivot table.

The pivot table gives a warning about the pivot table overlap problems by throwing the following error message.

 “A PivotTable report cannot overlap another PivotTable report.”

PivotTable report cannot overlap another PivotTable report

What Are The Reason Behind PivotTable Report Cannot Overlap Error?

Following are some root causes of Excel error code pivot table cannot overlap.

  • When in your Excel workbook there multiple pivot tables present on the same sheet. But the pivot table which you are selecting to refresh may not be the one that is having the problem.
  • When the pivot table is not having enough space to show its data and thus it can’t overlap with another pivot table.
  • You will also get this PivotTable Report Cannot Overlap Error message also when there is not having enough blank space for PivotTable to get expanded for new data.

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How To Fix Overlapping Pivot Tables in Excel?

Solution 1# Refresh When Opening The Workbook

We all don’t have a habit of refreshing data after performing the changes. Additionally, if your pivot table is linked with some external source then you will definitely want to show the current values to your viewers. For this, you need to refresh Excel Pivot Table after opening up your file.

 Here is how it is to be done:

  • Tap anywhere inside your Pivot Table as this will display Pivot Table Tools on your Excel ribbon.
  • Hit the Analyze and then Options button.

PivotTableOptions

  • From the Data tab present in the Excel ribbon, choose the check box ”Refresh data when opening the file”.

Refresh pivot table data automatically 1

Solution 2# Disable AutoFit

By default, Pivot tables use the “autofit column width” option. When you adjust the data, you can increase the column width, only to bring it back to autofit when refresh the pivot table.

To preserve direct formatting, you need to disable the autofit default like this:

  • Make a right-click anywhere within your pivot table.
  • Tap to the “Layout & Format” tab.
  • Un-check the “Autofit column widths” option present within the “update” tab.
  • Tap the OK button.

adjust column width

  • You need to disable the pivot table’s “autofit”
  • After turning off this feature, custom “column widths” will continue after refreshing.

Solution 3# Refresh At Regular Intervals

You need to refresh very often when the data is too complex or when the Excel pivot table is one of the parts of the dashboard. Excel has such features using which you can easily update the pivot table data at a regular time interval so that viewers will always get the updated data.

Follow the below steps to create the pivot table within the data model and then save it.

  • Tap anywhere within data set.
  • Hit the Insert tab. now from Tables group choose the PivotTable option.
  • From the opened dialog box, hit the “Add this data to the Data Model” option.
  • You can modify if some more settings changes required.
  • Tap to the OK. (Well adding data within the data model will only take a minute to get complete.)
  • Add some new pivot tables within data model.

Refresh at intervals 1

At such a point, you need to normally arrange the PivotTable. When you are done, you need to adjust the interval in this way:

  • Tap anywhere within Pivot table.
  • From the Data group hit the tab of contextual Analyze. Select the “Connection Properties” from the “Change Data Source” drop-down.
  • From the opened dialog box, choose the Refresh every option in the Refresh control section. On the right hit the interval in minutes.
  • Hit the OK button.
  • Set the time interval in minutes.
  • Such settings are very helpful for “external data sources”.

Refresh at intervals 2

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How To Find Which Pivot Table Is Overlapping?

Sometimes it’s quite easy to fetch and fix Excel pivot table problem. But, in the case of big size Excel workbook, having numerous pivot tables and various data sources, it’s been very difficult to find the actual location of the problem.

If you want to get an inventory of entire pivot tables present in your workbook along with the details like where they are actually located, their size, and source data. Then for this, you need to use the “List All Pivot Table – Details” macro as this will show the complete details about all your pivot tables.

Well, this macro lists almost every pivot table detail present in your Excel file, along with the information about size, source data, and location.

If the data source is some worksheet list or it’s a table of the same Excel workbook then also the macro will show details about such data source.

Wrap Up:

This PivotTable report cannot overlap another PivotTable report error occurs when several pivot tables are using the same data source. By default, the pivot table that is using the same data source are been refreshed at the same time. Even though when you are refreshing only one specific pivot table.

So if you are encountering this excel pivot table cannot overlap error because of the usage of the same data source then fix this problem first. After that only Excel will allow you to refresh the non-problematic pivot tables.



Priyanka is a content marketing expert. She writes tech blogs and has expertise in MS Office, Excel, and other tech subjects. Her distinctive art of presenting tech information in the easy-to-understand language is very impressive. When not writing, she loves unplanned travels.