how to change the name of a pivot table field and avoid error "Pivot Table field name already exists"

Question

I am creating two pivot tables on two worksheets, and one of the fields is Number of Projects.

When I put this field into a pivot table it becomes "Sum of Number of Projects".

There are two stages to my projects ("start" and "end") and each are on a separate worksheet.

I want to create a graph, one for each worksheet showing "NUmber of Projects" where the name on the Graph in both instances is "Number of Projects".

How can I achieve this and avoid the "Field name already exists error"?

It appears to me as though the field name alias I give it in the Custom Name box in "Field Settings" can't be the same as the column heading in the worksheet (which you used to create the pivot table in the first place.

Is there any way of getting around this?

One option is to add a space to the front or end of the pivot table field name but there has to be a better way.

add space to pivot field

Answer 1

Adding a space at the end is conventional and the most practical workaround.