Summary Tables With Dynamic Arrays

A summary table condenses a big list of raw rows into a small, readable block: one row per category with totals beside it. Think of a sales log with hundreds of rows turning into a tidy table showing each region and its total revenue.

The old way was a manual pivot table you had to refresh. The modern way uses dynamic array formulas that update themselves the instant your data changes. No buttons, no refreshing.

In this lesson you will combine three power tools: UNIQUE to list the categories, SUMIFS to total each one, and FILTER to pull matching rows. Together they build a live summary.

Imagine a sheet named Sales with three columns: Region in column A, Product in column B, and Amount in column C, filling rows 2 through 200.

Our goal is a summary showing each unique region and its total sales. The first challenge is getting a clean list of regions without typing them by hand, because new regions might appear later.

• A2:A200 holds many repeated region names like East, West, East, North.
• We want just: East, West, North, each listed once.

That distinct list is the backbone of the whole summary.