What is pivot and unpivot transformation?

< 1 min read

Pivot transformation means turning row values into column headers to summarize data.
In my project, we pivoted Product Category to create separate columns for each category’s sales.
It aggregates data automatically using SUM, COUNT, or other functions.
Unpivot transformation means turning columns into rows for a normalized structure.
We unpivoted monthly sales columns into two columns: Month and Sales Amount.
It makes the data suitable for filtering, grouping, and visualizations in Power BI.
Pivot is used for wide summary tables; unpivot is used for long, analysis-ready tables.
Both are applied in Power Query during transformation.
They help structure data for easier reporting and KPI calculations.
So pivot/unpivot converts data between wide and long formats depending on needs.

Power BI Essentials