Custom Tooltip (Table Visual) in Pivot Table Splits Values into Multiple Columns Instead of Displaying a Single Record

Q&A
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1

Hi everyone,

I’m facing an issue with custom tooltips in an Amazon QuickSight Pivot Table.

I have created a separate sheet containing a table visual and assigned it as the custom tooltip for my pivot table.

For most cells, the tooltip behaves as expected and displays a single set of values (see Image 2). However, for certain cells, instead of displaying a single record, the tooltip is split into multiple side-by-side columns (see Image 1).

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Expected Behavior

When hovering over a pivot table cell, I expect the tooltip to display only one set of values corresponding to that pivot table cell.

Actual Behavior

For some pivot table cells, the tooltip displays multiple side-by-side columns, where each column appears to represent a different underlying record that matches the hovered cell.

For example:
- Image 1: Tooltip is split into two columns.
- Image 2: Tooltip correctly displays a single column.

Both screenshots are using the exact same tooltip sheet.

What I’ve Observed

- The issue is not limited to the Date field.
- The same behavior occurs when certain dimensions (represented as Column1, Column2, Column3, etc. in the attached screenshots) have multiple values for the hovered pivot table cell.
- It appears that whenever QuickSight finds multiple underlying records matching the hovered pivot table cell, it renders each record as a separate column in the tooltip instead of displaying a single result.

What I’ve Tried

- Added a Top Ranked Insight calculation to limit the tooltip to a single record.

  • Verified that the tooltip sheet is configured correctly.
  • Tested with different dimensions.

Unfortunately, the behavior remains the same.

Questions

1. Is this expected behavior for custom tooltip sheets for Pivot Table?
2. Is there any way to force the tooltip to display only a single record, even when multiple underlying records exist?
3. Are there any recommended best practices for designing tooltip sheets to avoid this behavior?
4. Has anyone encountered this issue before, and if so, how did you resolve it?

I’ve attached two screenshots for reference:
- Image 1 shows the tooltip being split into multiple columns.
- Image 2 shows the tooltip displaying correctly as a single record.

Any suggestions or workarounds would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

2

Hi @Mvvimal,

Welcome to the Quick Community! I have faced similar behavior when it comes to the sheet tooltips but have not been able to deduce a particular reason why yet if there is one. If possible, could you please share an Arena View of your topic with non-sensitive data? I feel that this may better help us to potentially see if there is a workaround for your use case.

Thank you!

3

I’ve created an Arena view with a dummy dataset that reproduces the behavior and shared it below.

Arena View: Tooltip Issue

Based on the dummy dataset I created, the tooltip splitting can be reproduced for the following dates:

  • 9/7/2025 (Primary example)
    • Category A → Multiple underlying records exist for the same pivot cell, so the custom tooltip splits into multiple columns.
    • Category B → Another duplicate scenario has been included to demonstrate the same behavior.

All other dates in the dataset (e.g., 8/3/2025, 8/10/2025, 8/17/2025, etc.) have only one underlying record per pivot cell, so the tooltip displays correctly as a single column.

5

Hi @Mvvimal

Took a look at your Arena report - thanks for putting that together.

tldr: the multiple column behavior is caused by having multiple dimension values in your ToolTip columns; Quick has no way of rolling multiple dimensions into a single column, so it shows multiple columns, each for a unique combination of dimensions

The behavior is rooted in the structure of the actual data and how Viz in ToolTips work.

If you look at the screenshot for Sep 7 2025:

  • Category A → 9/7/2025 has a value of 1,427,059

And on that day, your tooltip table shows:

  • Column3 contains both Value A and Value E
  • Column4 contains both Value B and Value F
  • Column7 aggregates some value per combination of dimensions (1st column = 992,737; 2nd column=363,762; 3rd column = 84,060)
  • And so on

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What’s happening is each column in your ToolTip represents a unique combination of dimension values in Column3, Column4, Column5.

Connecting that to your expected behavior:

When hovering over a pivot table cell, I expect the tooltip to display only one set of values corresponding to that pivot table cell.

Your understanding is completely correct - but what you’re seeing is a case where there are multiple sets of values that correspond to the pivot table cell.

When that happens, Quick has no way to “collapse” all of the observed values into a single column. So instead of one column where Column3 shows: "BLANK, Value A, Value E", Quick gives you three columns, one for each set of values.

If there were one unique set of Column3-Column10 values under the date you’re drilling into, it should give one column. When there’s multiple sets of Column3-Column10 values, you get n columns (n = distinct combinations of dimensions in the ToolTip table for that date).

From a UX perspective, I see why it’s a potential problem.

Recommended Solutions:

  • Accept the tradeoff: one-column-per-combination of dimensions; add a note to the report explaining the behavior, ToolTip is still technically correct
  • Create an aggregated dataset, use it for both visuals (ToolTip will always show one column): One row per Column1 per Week

The aggregated dataset would look something like this:

Column1 Date Column3 Column7
Category A 9/7/2025 BLANK, Value A, Value E 1,427,059
Category B 9/7/2025 Value A 755,862
Category C 9/7/2025 Value A, Value E 673,069

Let me know if you have any questions.

Good luck,

Dave

6

Thanks, Dave! I really appreciate you taking the time to review the Arena report and provide such a detailed explanation. It helped me understand why QuickSight behaves this way and the possible approaches to address it. Thanks again for your help!

7

Of course, glad I could help.

If this is what you’re looking for, would you mind marking the answer as the solution to close out the forum post?

Thanks so much!

Dave