Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Creating Scenario Summaries.

Creating Scenario Summaries

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 1, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365

If you have a number of different scenarios devised for a worksheet, you can quickly create scenario summaries. These list the values in each of your scenarios, along with any result cells you want to show. They are very helpful for providing an overview of the different scenarios.

To create a summary, all you need to do is follow these steps:

  1. Display the Data tab of the ribbon.
  2. Click the What-If Analysis tool (in the Data Tools group) and then click Scenario Manager. Excel displays the Scenario Manager dialog box.
  3. Click on the Summary button. Excel displays the Scenario Summary dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

    4. Figure 1. The Scenario Summary dialog box.

  4. Using the two radio buttons in the Report Type area of the dialog box, select the type of summary report you want. Most of the time you will select the default (Scenario Summary), although you can create a PivotTable, if desired.
  5. Specify in the Result Cells field the result cells you want included in the report.
  6. Click on the OK button. Excel inserts a worksheet, labeled Scenario Summary, before the current one and constructs a fully formatted summary report in it.

Even though the report is fully formatted, you can make formatting changes as you deem appropriate. You will probably want to do this anyway, since Excel uses cell addresses for cells that aren't named. Make your changes and then save your workbook as you normally would.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8570) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Creating Scenario Summaries.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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