Excel: Do not save data with table layout in a pivot table in Excel 2003/XP/2000/97

Also learn how to not save the data with the table layout in a pivot table in Excel 2007.

Question:  After I created a pivot table in Excel 2003/XP/2000/97, the size of the Excel spreadsheet became quite large. This was due to the fact that the data behind the pivot table was saved with the table layout. How do I prevent Excel from saving the data with the table layout?

Answer:  Select a cell in the pivot table. Right-click and then select "Table Options" from the popup menu.

When the PivotTable Options window appears, uncheck the checkbox called "Save data with table layout". Click on the OK button.