Drill down lets you explore the underlying details of summarized data in your reports, directly within Excel, uncovering the data behind your numbers by breaking aggregated values into detailed components.

• Access detailed data quickly, without navigating multiple spreadsheets
• Tailor drill downs and filters to your analysis needs
• Save and share drill downs, so others can reuse your configurations

In the task pane, go to Build & analyze > Drill down. 
You can also reach every option by right-clicking a cell. See Right-Click Context Menu.

Drill down works on cells containing Datarails values, so your file needs to be connected to a Filebox and refreshed.

CSV files are not supported - In a CSV workbook the whole Drill down section is disabled. Convert the file and connect it to a Filebox to use the full functionality.

Drill down by field

Lets you explore a specific field to see what contributes to a value, for example which accounts made up the income of Customer Success in April 2024.

1. Click a cell that contains a Datarails formula.
2. Go to Build & analyze > Drill down > Drill down by field, or right-click the cell and choose Drill Down - By Field.
3. A list of all fields from the source table appears. Select the field you want to break the value down by.
4. A pivot table is generated, showing aggregated amounts for each value in that field.
5. A detailed records tab also opens, listing every transaction that contributed to the amount.
6. To go deeper, double-click any value in the pivot table. Another detailed records tab opens, showing the transactions behind that specific amount.

Open detailed records

Gives you the complete list of transactions that make up a value, with no aggregation, for example every row behind the income of Marketing in May 2024.

1. Click a cell that contains a Datarails formula.
2. Go to Build & analyze > Drill down > Open detailed records, or right-click the cell and choose Open detailed records.
3. A tab opens listing every transaction that contributed to the value, with all relevant fields from the database.

Each tab gives you a granular view of every transaction, so you can see exactly how an amount is composed.

Very large results are exported as CSV. If a drill down returns more than 5 million cells or 1 million rows, the result is delivered as a CSV file rather than a worksheet tab.

Favorites

Favorites let you save a breakdown so you can reuse it later. This saves time and keeps your analysis consistent across reports.

To save a favorite:

1. Create a breakdown by following the steps in Drill down by field.
2. With the drill-down sheet active, click Add breakdown to favorites.
3. Enter a name and save.

To use a favorite:

Your most recently used favorite appears directly in the Drill down section, so you can rerun it in one click. Click a cell containing a Datarails formula, then click the favorite.

To see all your favorites:

Click See all next to Favorites. This opens the full list, where you can:

• Run any saved favorite
• Edit its name
• Delete it

The Favorites heading shows a count, so you can see how many you have saved.

Drill tabs

Drill downs create extra tabs in your workbook. Do not delete these tabs directly in Excel. Instead, go to Build & analyze > Drill down and click Clear all next to Drill tabs.

This closes every drill-down tab safely, without affecting the rest of your workbook. The Drill tabs heading shows a count, so you can see how many are currently open, and Clear all appears only when there is at least one to clear.

Working across platforms

Drill down behaves identically on Windows desktop, Mac desktop and Excel on the web.

Updated September 15, 2026 07:22