How to group table by many columns in Confluence

[Nikolai Ivanov]

Hello am new in the community. I have problem with tables in Confluence. I want to see what material is not coming back to stock, because sometimes we miss refill.

Now I have big table with many rows. It is hard to read. I want to group by some columns, like material type, location, status. So I can see fast where is problem (what location missing, or what material never refill).

Is possible in Confluence? Or maybe some app in Marketplace can do this? Group by many columns in table?

Thank you

[Mia Tamm _Simpleasyty_ · Accepted solution]

 Hi @Nikolai Ivanov — welcome, and thanks for raising this!

Big Confluence tables can get hard to read fast.

In native Confluence there isn’t a way to group by multiple columns. For that, a macro like Simple Tables helps—you can group by 1, 2, or more columns (e.g., Type → Location → Status), collapse/expand groups, and add per-group totals.

Quick setup (2 minutes)

1. Import your data (paste CSV, upload a file, or select a page attachment).

2. Turn on Grouping and choose the order: Material type → Location → Status.

3. Add aggregations per column, for example:

   • ExpectedQty and ReturnedQty: Sum

   • Material: Count (or Count distinct if you want unique materials)

4. (Optional) Show grand totals in the footer.

5. (Optional) Use the search bar and export to CSV/Excel to share the result.

Already have a native Confluence table? You can also wrap it with the Simple Tables “bodied” macro to enable grouping without re-importing.

Example CSV (based on your use case)

Copy–paste this to try grouping and aggregations:

Material,Type,Location,Status,ExpectedQty,ReturnedQty,LastRefill
Bolt M8,Hardware,WH-1,Missing,120,0,2025-09-12
Bolt M8,Hardware,WH-2,Pending,120,80,2025-09-15
Washer 6mm,Hardware,WH-1,Complete,500,500,2025-09-12
Glue A,Consumable,Line A,Missing,20,0,2025-09-10
Glue A,Consumable,Line B,Pending,20,12,2025-09-11
Cable 2m,Electrical,WH-3,Pending,50,10,2025-09-14
Cable 2m,Electrical,WH-2,Missing,50,0,2025-09-13
Filter X,Spare,WH-1,Pending,10,4,2025-09-09
Filter X,Spare,WH-2,Complete,10,10,2025-09-08
Oil 5W,Consumable,WH-1,Missing,30,0,2025-09-12
Oil 5W,Consumable,WH-3,Pending,30,18,2025-09-10
Tape,Consumable,Line A,Complete,40,40,2025-09-11

Want to see it live?

I created a demo page whith the example below, so you can play with grouping per column and tweak the aggregations. 

Hope this helps you spot problem locations and materials quickly!

— Mia Tamm

[Nikolai Ivanov]

Thanks, @Mia Tamm _Simpleasyty_. Super helpful walkthrough, and the demo page is great to play with

Quick style question. Can I switch to a compact layout (smaller row height/padding), keep the header sticky, and visually highlight group headers (background + indent)? Also, is there a way to cap the table height with a scrollbar so long lists stay tidy?

If you can toggle those on the demo, I’ll share that link with my team.

[Mia Tamm _Simpleasyty_]

Hi @Nikolai Ivanov — thanks for the thoughtful question!

Yes, you can set all of that in Simple Tables:

• Compact layout (smaller row height/padding): open the Formatting tab → Table formatting → choose Compact.
  
  
  
  
• Keep things tidy with a scrollbar: open the Formatting tab → Table height → pick Small/Medium/Large. That caps the visible area so the body scrolls inside the table (use Full content if you don’t want an internal scroll).
  
  
  
  
• Group headers + summaries: turn on Grouping and (optionally) add column Aggregations like Sum/Avg/Count so each group header shows a clear summary. Groups are collapsible and support multiple levels for a hierarchical view.
  
  

If you’re wrapping a native Confluence table, you can still use these features via the Simple Table (bodied) macro.

Hope this helps—happy to iterate if you want a specific look for the group rows.

— Mia Tamm

[Jan Kuntscher - appanvil - Aura Karma Mantra · Accepted solution]

Hi and welcome,

For grouping tables by columns, try the free app AURA Table Filter for Confluence. It lets you group by columns, filter, add charts, and more so you can spot locations or materials that never refill.

Best regards,
Jan
CEO of appanvil

[Nikolai Ivanov]

Hi @Jan Kuntscher - appanvil - Aura Karma Mantra  I saw AURA supports grouping and charts—can it do 3-level nested groups (Type → Location → Status) with collapsible sections and per-group sums on Cloud?

Thanks

[Jan Kuntscher - appanvil - Aura Karma Mantra]

Hi @Nikolai Ivanov ,

Right now you can apply one grouping, plus any number of filters. I have noted your request for multi-group support. Column calculations based on your specifications are planned for this month.

Best regards,
Jan
CEO of appanvil

[Mia Tamm _Simpleasyty_]

Hi @Nikolai Ivanov — welcome, and thanks for raising this! Big Confluence tables can get hard to read fast.

In native Confluence there isn’t a way to group by multiple columns. For that, a macro like Simple Tables helps—you can group by 1, 2, or more columns (e.g., Type → Location → Status), collapse/expand groups, and add per-group totals.

Quick setup (2 minutes)

1. Import your data (paste CSV, upload a file, or select a page attachment).

2. Turn on Grouping and choose the order: Material type → Location → Status.

3. Add aggregations per column, for example:

   • ExpectedQty and ReturnedQty: Sum

   • Material: Count (or Count distinct if you want unique materials)

4. (Optional) Show grand totals in the footer.

5. (Optional) Use the search bar and export to CSV/Excel to share the result.

Already have a native Confluence table? You can also wrap it with the Simple Tables “bodied” macro to enable grouping without re-importing.

Example CSV (based on your use case)

Copy–paste this to try grouping and aggregations:

 Material,Type,Location,Status,ExpectedQty,ReturnedQty,LastRefill
Bolt M8,Hardware,WH-1,Missing,120,0,2025-09-12
Bolt M8,Hardware,WH-2,Pending,120,80,2025-09-15
Washer 6mm,Hardware,WH-1,Complete,500,500,2025-09-12
Glue A,Consumable,Line A,Missing,20,0,2025-09-10
Glue A,Consumable,Line B,Pending,20,12,2025-09-11
Cable 2m,Electrical,WH-3,Pending,50,10,2025-09-14
Cable 2m,Electrical,WH-2,Missing,50,0,2025-09-13
Filter X,Spare,WH-1,Pending,10,4,2025-09-09
Filter X,Spare,WH-2,Complete,10,10,2025-09-08
Oil 5W,Consumable,WH-1,Missing,30,0,2025-09-12
Oil 5W,Consumable,WH-3,Pending,30,18,2025-09-10
Tape,Consumable,Line A,Complete,40,40,2025-09-11

Want to see it live?

I created a demo page where you can play with grouping per column and tweak the aggregations. You will be logged to see the app (Atlassian limitations).

Hope this helps you spot problem locations and materials quickly!

— Mia Tamm

[Alessandro Cristiano - Ricksoft]

Hello @Nikolai Ivanov , welcome to Atlassian Community and thanks for sharing your challenges with us.

You might want to take a look at Excel-like Tables for Confluence, it brings up a full fledged spreadsheet application to your Confluence, allowing you to do any sort of things you would in another spreadsheet application like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets - formulas, filters, pivot tables, graphs, you name it.

It also has a feature where you can link cells from one spreadsheet to another, so you can easily build cross-referenced tables which would help crossing references between stock and purchase orders spreadsheets for example - you can read more about it at https://docs.ricksoft-inc.com/excel-like-tables-for-confluence/link-cells-from-different-spreadsheets

Hope this helps and feel welcome to ask anything else if you need to!

Cheers,
Kind regards,
Alessandro C. | Support Manager
Ricksoft Support Team

[Nikolai Ivanov]

Hi @Alessandro Cristiano - Ricksoft in Excel-like Tables, could I build a pivot Type→Location→Status with subtotals + grand total, and any guidance on performance around 5–10k rows?

Helpful, thanks!

[Stiltsoft support]

Hi @Nikolai Ivanov ,

You can also check the app that we develop - Table Filter, Charts & Spreadsheets for Confluence.

If you prefer working with native tables, you may take the Pivot Table macro.

If you want to work in Excel-like style, you can take the Spreadsheet from Table macro, turn your existing native table in a fully functioning spreadsheet, and create pivot tables there. And you can always use the Table Spreadsheet macro to work with spreadsheets in Confluence from scratch.

[Nikolai Ivanov]

Thanks! For the Pivot Table macro, can I render expandable nested groups on the page (not just a flat pivot) and keep the result auto-updated when the source table changes?

[Stiltsoft support]

Yes, both assumptions are correct.

You can select several row/column labels and expand your multi-dimentional pivot if required. You can also choose if you need to show totals.

What concerns the second assumption, all the changes to the source tables (native tables, Jira Issues, Page Properties Report, connected via the Table from CSV macro Google Sheets, web-bases via urls, and page .csv attachments) are reflected through our macros (and Pivot Table as well!), so your data will be always up-to-date.

[Thiago P _Atlassian Support_]

Hey there @Nikolai Ivanov ,

Apart from the great options already mentioned here, you can check the native Confluence Databases as they have built-in sorting and filtering options.

For more details, make sure to review Create and edit databases.

Hope this helps!  =]

[Nikolai Ivanov]

Appreciate it! Do Confluence Databases have a grouped view with rollups (sum/count) across multiple fields, or would I still need a macro for that?

Thanks.

[Vronik]

Hi

Loot at this addon, maybe can help you

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1235329/sum-up-reports-for-confluence?hosting=cloud&tab=overview

Regards

[Nikolai Ivanov]

Hi @Vronik  is Sum Up Reports able to group within one table by multiple columns with expand/collapse, or is it mainly for aggregating across pages/spaces?

Thanks