How to Create Change Reports in ServiceNow (Step-by-Step Guide)

BillMartin · 2 hours ago

If you work with change management in ServiceNow, you spend a lot of time looking at lists of change requests. At some point you need more than a list. You need a clear change report you can share with managers, directors, or your own team.

This guide walks you through how to turn your existing change records into useful reports inside ServiceNow. You’ll see how to start from the standard list of open changes, filter and group the data, convert it into charts, save reusable views, and use the built‑in change reports that already come with the ITSM module.

Accessing Open Change Requests in ServiceNow

You start with the list of open change requests. This list becomes your main data source for reporting, so it helps to know exactly where it comes from and how it behaves.

In the left application filter, type change. ServiceNow will show all modules that include the word “change”. From there, you use the standard Change application.

Here’s the path in a simple view:

Step	Action	Details
1	In the left sidebar, type change	The keyword search shows all modules that contain “change”.
2	Under the Change application, click Open	You see all open change requests in a list.

If you use a personal developer instance (PDI), you might see extra change‑related modules that come from plugins or apps you installed. You can ignore those for now and focus on the core Change > Open list.

The tutorial in the video runs on the Zurich version of ServiceNow. If you want to follow along as closely as possible, you can request a free PDI from ServiceNow with just an email address, then set it up to match what you see in the video.

Once you have the open change list on screen, you’re looking at live data that you can turn into:

A quick snapshot for your manager
A recurring report for your own use
A summarized view for directors who only want key numbers

The next step is to shape that list into something meaningful with filters.

Filtering Change Requests to Refine Your Data

Filters are the fastest way to control which change requests appear in your report. You use them both for one‑off views and for reusable reports.

At the top left of the list, you have the Filter section. This lets you build conditions like “Active is true” or “Type is Normal”.

A common example is to show only active normal changes.

You can do that like this:

Check that Active is set to true in your filter conditions.
Add a new condition where Type is Normal.
Click Run to apply the filter.

Your list now shows only open change requests that are active and of type Normal. This alone is useful as a basic change report, especially if your manager only cares about normal changes in progress.

If you want to remove that condition and go back to your broader list, you can:

Delete the extra filter row for Type, then click Run, or
Use the filter controls to reset the view to the default open change list.

You can also filter quickly from inside the list using the Show Matching option. For example:

Right‑click a value in the Type column, such as Standard.
Choose Show Matching.

The list updates so it only shows records where Type is Standard. This is handy when you spot something on the fly and want to see everything that matches it.

After changing filters or using Show Matching, it’s a good habit to hit Run again to confirm that the filter bar matches what you expect on the screen.

Once you’re happy with the filtered data, you can start grouping it to see patterns.

Grouping Data and Adding Useful Columns

Grouping lets you see your change data in logical chunks. Instead of scanning row by row, you can quickly answer questions like “How many open emergencies do we have right now?”

In the list header, you’ll see an ellipsis icon (three dots). This opens options for working with the list. To group your change requests by type:

Click the ellipsis in the list header.
Select Group by.
Choose Type.

ServiceNow rearranges the list so that all changes are grouped under each type. In a typical ITSM setup, you’ll see groups like:

Emergency
Normal
Standard

This follows ServiceNow best practices for change types. You can now see, at a glance, how many open changes exist under each type without building a full chart yet.

To make this grouped view even more useful, you can add more columns to the list. At the top right of the list, choose the option to add columns (Configure > List layout or the “gear” icon, depending on your UI).

Useful columns for change reporting include:

Column	Purpose
Assigned to	Shows the specific person owning the change.
Assignment group	Shows the team responsible for the change.
State	Shows the current workflow state.

Add these to your list, then scroll horizontally to see them. Now your grouped list not only shows how many changes exist by type, but also who owns them, which group is responsible, and what state they’re in.

Spend a bit of time playing with different groupings and columns. The more you explore, the easier it becomes to spot the right view for your reporting needs.

Once you like what you see in the list, you’re ready to convert it into a visual report.

Turning List Views into Bar or Pie Chart Reports

The list view is powerful, but decision‑makers often prefer visuals. ServiceNow lets you turn a list into a bar or pie chart with just a few steps.

Prerequisites before creating a chart

If you grouped the list (for example, by Type), you need to remove that grouping before creating a chart. Otherwise, some options will be grayed out.

To prepare your list:

Open the ellipsis menu again.
Choose the option to Ungroup (or clear the group by setting).
Confirm that you’re back in a standard list view without group headers.

Now you can convert the list into a chart.

Converting the list into a bar or pie chart

With the list ready, use the list controls to change the view type. Depending on your UI, you’ll see options like Bar chart or Pie chart alongside the standard list icon.

A simple flow looks like this:

Start from the filtered open change list.
Make sure there are no active groupings.
Choose Bar chart or Pie chart from the view options.
ServiceNow groups the data into a visual chart, usually based on the field you pick, such as Type.

This gives you an instant change report you can show in a meeting or add to a dashboard.

Next, give your report a clear title:

On the right side panel, update the Title to something like Change Report.
Review any other properties you might want, such as description.
Click Save.

Now you’ve created a reusable change report based on live change data.

Adding your change report to a dashboard

Once your report is saved, you can add it to a dashboard so you or your stakeholders can see it without going back to the list each time.

The video that accompanies this tutorial references a separate step‑by‑step guide on how to:

Add reports to any dashboard
Build a full change dashboard in ServiceNow

If you want to go deeper into dashboards, watch for those videos at the end of the YouTube tutorial. They expand on how to combine multiple change reports into one page for ongoing monitoring.

Saving Filtered Views and Reports for Reuse

If you run the same change report every day, it helps to save your filters as a personal or shared view.

A common example is a list of all changes in a Scheduled state. You might review this each morning to see what’s coming up.

To create that view:

Start from Change > Open.
Add a filter where State is Scheduled.
Confirm any other filters you need, for example Active is true.
Once the list shows only scheduled changes, use the list menu to Save the filter.

When saving, you can choose who can use this view:

Assign it to only yourself if it’s a personal working filter.
Assign it to a group if your whole team needs the same view.

Give it a clear name, such as Scheduled State Change, and save it.

Later, when you open the same change list, you can use the context menu or the filter dropdown to pick Scheduled State Change. ServiceNow instantly applies the saved conditions and shows you the same report again without rebuilding it.

This is a simple but strong habit. Over time, you can build a library of views that match your daily and weekly reporting needs.

Using Built‑In ServiceNow Change Reports

If you have the ITSM module and you bought ServiceNow as a platform, you already have a rich set of reports. You don’t always need to build everything from scratch.

ServiceNow includes reporting content that follows ITSM best practices, and that includes change management.

To see what’s already available, go to Platform Analytics, then open Data Visualizations. From there, use the search box to look for “change”.

You’ll see a long list of existing reports. In the video, this search returns about 98 change reports that you can use right away. These are ready‑made charts and visualizations built on common change data sources.

A smart approach is:

First, scan the existing change reports.
If one of them already gives you what you need (or comes close), use it.
If it’s close but not perfect, duplicate it and adjust it.

Duplicating and customizing existing change reports

Copying an existing report saves a lot of time. You reuse the data source, structure, and general setup, then only change what you must.

Here’s the basic flow:

Step	Action
1	Open a change report that is close to what you need.
2	In the top right, click Duplicate.
3	Give the new report a meaningful name.
4	Adjust filters, groupings, or visual settings as needed.
5	Save the new report and add it to a dashboard if required.

This approach follows a simple best practice: start from a working template, then make minor changes instead of rebuilding from the ground up.

If you want a deeper explanation of data sources behind these reports, the video mentions another tutorial focused on change dashboards in ServiceNow. That content goes further into how the data sources are built and how you can reuse them.

By combining built‑in reports with a few custom tweaks, you can build a strong reporting setup in a short amount of time.

Conclusion and Next Steps

You’ve seen how to turn open change requests into clear change reports in ServiceNow. You started from the standard open change list, filtered and grouped the data, turned it into charts, saved reusable views, and tapped into the many pre‑built change reports under Platform Analytics.

Take one of the approaches from this guide, try it in your own instance, and refine it until it fits your team’s needs. Over time, you’ll build a set of change reports and dashboards that give you and your stakeholders exactly the insight you need.