Apply a filter in excel

The Excel Filter Feature is a great tool that proves to be a lifesaver at the time when you are working with huge data in Excel. In this blog, we would unlock this filter feature in Excel. We would learn how to filter huge data in excel. We would also get into answering the following common questions – how to filter values, or numbers, or dates and time in Excel, how to use filter using wildcard characters in excel, how to filter using the search box, how to filter by text or cell color.

Sample Data – Download Sample File

In this blog, we would be using the below data. Kindly download and practice along with using the Download button.

What is the Purpose of Filter Feature in Excel?

The Filter Feature (also known as AutoFilter) is a powerful tool provided by Excel that narrows down the excel data or data in excel tables to show only those data that you want to see by temporarily hiding all other data. In our sample data, for example, we can use this feature to condense the data such that it only shows the programs taken up by the ‘Female‘ applicants.

In a similar way, you can filter by dates, or values or by any other such criteria.

The filters are always added to the headers of the data set. Therefore, it is important that your excel data must contain a header row, with logical headings. In our example, row 3 is the header row with headings describing the column data.

Once your dataset has proper headers, you are now good to insert the AutoFilter on these headers. To add AutoFilter on the header row, click on any of the cells inside the excel data set (like C7) and use any of the below-mentioned ways:

• Go to ‘Home‘ tab > ‘Editing‘ Group > ‘Sort & Filter‘ Option > ‘Filter‘ button.

• Go to ‘Data‘ tab > ‘Sort & Filter‘ group > ‘Filter‘ Button.

• Keyboard Shortcut Method : Ctrl + Shift + L

As soon as you use any of the above methods, the excel would automatically detect the header row inside the table or data set and insert filter buttons on each of the header cells. These are the downward-facing arrows, like the way shown below:

Simple Ways to Filter Your Data Set in Excel

Once the filter option added to the headers, you are good to start filtering your data set.

With this feature, you can filter your data by a single column or by multiple columns.

Applying Filter on Single Column

To apply the filter on a single column, simply click on the filter button (downward-facing arrow) of the respective column. (Let us firstly apply the filter on the column ‘Program Name’). As a result, you would notice that all the checkboxes are checked by default.

Uncheck the checkbox that says ‘Select All‘. This would remove the check boxes from all the values.

Now, start ticking the values that you wish to view and click on ‘OK’, like the way demonstrated in the below image.

Consequently, the excel would view or show only the selected values in the column, rest all are hidden. Don’t worry excel has not deleted them, they are still there in the backend.

Applying Filter on Multiple Columns

In a similar way, you can apply the filter on other columns in the Excel Data Table. There is no limitation on how many columns to which you can apply the filter.

Let us now apply another filter on the column having header – ‘Gender‘.

As a result, the excel would now only display the data set rows for selected ‘Program’ and for ‘Female’ candidates. All others are temporarily hidden (not removed).

Some Useful Points and Tips

Once a filter is applied on the header row-

• The Downward-facing arrow on the filtered column changes its icon which denotes that there is a filter applied to this column.
• When you take your mouse cursor over the filter button, it shows the filter values.

• To increase or decrease the width of the filter window, take your mouse cursor on the bottom-right corner of the filter window. Once the mouse cursor changes to a two-side facing arrow, click and drag right (to increase) or left (to decrease). See the below demonstration for more clarity.

Filter Data Using Filter Search Box in Excel

In the earlier section, we learned about how to filter your data set by selecting the checkboxes in the Filter window. There is yet another way to filter out a specific text or value or numbers or dates/time in Excel which is by using the ‘Filter’ search box. The Filter search box is placed just above the list of values in the Filter window.

To filter your data set using the ‘Filter’ search box, simply click on the ‘Filter’ drop-down icon on the header and type the search value in the search box. As a result, the excel would narrow down the list to show only the specified values. Finally, click on the ‘OK’ button to apply the filter.

To illustrate with an example, let us filter out the ‘Program’ column with the Bachelor’s degree.

Not sure about the exact text to search, then use wildcard characters in the search box for a non-exact filter search in Excel. If you are unaware of what are wildcard characters in Excel and its usage, then please click here.

Clearing Filter on Columns in Excel

When you want to clear filter from selected or all the header columns in Excel, you can use any of the below-mentioned ways:

• Click on the ‘Filter‘ icon on the header of the column header, and click on the option that says – Clear Filter from <Column Header Name>

• Another way is to click on the ‘Filter‘ icon of the header, and check the checkbox – ‘Select All‘.

When you clear the filter from the column ‘Gender’, the data set would now only have a filter on the column header ‘Program’. It has only cleared filter from the row ‘Gender’ and has not touched any other filters.

To clear multiple filter from all the headers cells, use any of the following way:

• Click on any of the cells in the dataset and navigate to the path – Data tab > Sort & Filter Group and there click on the option that says – Clear.

• Or you can even use this – Home Tab > Editing Group. Click the option Sort & Filter > Clear.

It is important to note that the above method only clears the filter from the header cell. It does not remove the filter icon from the header row. To learn how to remove the filter in Excel, wait until the end of this blog.

How to Filter Values or Text in Excel?

When you are working with text filters, there are many other text filter options available in addition to what we learned above. Below is the list of the same.

• You can filter the values or text which exactly Equals or which Does Not Equal to some text.
• Additionally, you can even filter for a non-exact match by using the Contains and Does Not Contain a text
• Or, you can even filter the values or text that starts or Begins With or Ends With a particular text.

These advanced filter options are available under the ‘Text Filter’ section of the Filter Window as shown in the image below:

Let us understand this with the help of a small example: Let us, for example, get the program that contains the word ‘Business’ in it. To achieve it,

Click on the ‘Filter‘ icon on the column header – ‘Program’, and take your mouse cursor to the option – Text Filters.

In the list of options that come up, select the option that says – ‘Contains‘. As a result, the ‘Custom AutoFilter‘ dialog box would appear on your screen. In the input box besides the word ‘Contains’, write the text that you want to filter (in our case ‘Business’) and press OK.

As soon as you press OK, excel would show all the values or text that contains the word ‘Business’ and will hide all other data rows.

Note that, just like Filter search box, this ‘Custom AutoFilter’ dialog box also accepts wildcard character search.

Filter Values based on Two Criteria

The Custom AutoFilter dialog box also allows us to filter out the data rows based on two criteria. Use the And and Or operator radio buttons based on how you wish to filter.

For example: Let us filter out all the programs for Commerce and Science. In this case, as we want both the values, we shall use Or operator, like this-

This would filter out those values which either contain the word ‘Commerce‘ or contain the word ‘Science‘.

How to Filter Numbers in Excel?

Similar to the text filter learned above, there are many additional filter options available carry Number Filters in Excel. Below is the list of the same:

• You can filter the exact number or amount by using Equals and Does Not Equal option under the ‘Number Filter’.
• Similarly, the Number Filter – Greater Than and Less Than allows us to get all values that are more or less than a specific value.
• Greater Than or Equal To and Less Than or Equal To works in a similar way.
• Between Number Filter allows you to filter out the values lies between two values (lower and upper values both inclusive)
• Other options are – Top 10, Above Average, Below Average

The filter option Top 10 does not exactly only mean Top 10 values. You can change it to any other value like Top 15, or Top 27 Values, and even Bottom 5 values and so on.

How to Filter Dates in Excel?

Unlike the Text and Number Filter, the Dates Filters option allows us with more advanced filtering options. The below image in itself is self-explanatory.

In a nutshell, below options are available for filtering dates in Excel –

• You can filter the dates which fall in the current month/week/quarter/year and even for previous and upcoming (i.e. next) month/week/quarter/year.
• Additionally, you can filter out by an exact date, or date that falls before or after a particular date, or between two dates.
• Excel provides with an option to filter all the dates in a particular month or quarter (regardless of the year in which it falls)
• You can create a custom date filter using the ‘Custom AutoFilter’ dialog box to which you are already aware of using.

Important to notice – Excel by default groups all the dates by year, months, and then the days. You can expand or collapse the groups (year, months, and days) to filter the dates and check/uncheck it to filter accordingly.

In the above image, you can see that all the dates are grouped by years first (2020 and 2019). Within the years there are months and then the days in the month. If you clear the checkbox for 2020, then the excel would only show the dates that lie in 2019.

How to Filter By Color in Excel?

When the data set contains any text with color or any cell with a background color, you can use the ‘Filter by Color‘ option in the ‘Filter’ Window to filter the dataset by a specific text or cell background color.

Let me explain this with a small example. I am changing the background color of different cells to yellow, orange, and green. Also, I have the font color in a few of the cells as ‘Red’.

To filter the values based on color, simply click on the ‘Filter’ drop-down arrow button on the header cell and take your mouse cursor over the option that says – ‘Filter by Color’.

As a result, you would see that excel lists all the cell and font color. You can choose the color that you want to filter with.

Let us, for example, filter the programs by Red font color. The result of the filter would be as below.

Quick Way to Filter By A Specific Cell’s Value, Font Color, Cell Color or Icon

Instead of using the ‘Filter’ drop-down icon to filter, you can even filter the dataset based on a specific cell’s value, icon, or font and cell color. To do so, follow the undermentioned steps:

• Right-click on the cell that contains the color by which you want to filter. Let us, in this case, filter by yellow color. Therefore, I have right-clicked on C4 (as it has a yellow cell color).
• Take your mouse cursor to the option that says – ‘Filter‘, and click on the option – ‘Filter by Selected Cell’s Color‘.

As a result, excel would filter the dataset based on the cell color – Yellow, as demonstrated in the below image:

A Solution To – AutoFilter Does Not Work After Changing Data

When you make any changes in the filtered data, you would notice that excel does not refresh the filter automatically. Yes, that is absolutely true. You need to reapply the filter in order to refresh the data and apply the filter on the changed data. There are a couple of ways to do the same, as listed below:

• Using Filter Window – After making changes in the filtered data, simply click on the ‘Filter’ drop-down arrow on the header cell and click ‘OK’ in there. However, there is are exceptions to this method. This would not work when you apply ‘filter by color’ or ‘Number Filter/Text Filter/Date Filter’. This technique only applies when you use the search box to filter out the data.

• Using Reapply Option – After making changes in the filtered data, simply navigate to the Data tab > Sort & Filter Group > Reapply Option. The keyboard shortcut key for the same is Ctrl + Alt + L.

This option is also available in the Home Tab > Editing Group > Sort & Filter Option > Reapply.

Copy and Paste only Filtered Data in Excel

There are two possibilities to copy and paste only filtered data in Excel.

Copy and Paste Filtered Data Including Header Row

Simply, click on any of the cell in the filtered area, and press Ctrl + A to select the entire excel table or data set. As a result, you would notice that excel selects the entire table including both data rows as well as the header row. Now, press Ctrl + C to copy the selection and use Ctrl + V at the destination location to paste the filtered data cells.

Copy and Paste Filtered Data Excluding Header Row

To copy and paste only filtered data (without header row), select the top-left cell of the data (which in our case it is C4). Press keyboard keys Ctrl + Shift + Down_Arrow and then press Ctrl + Shift + Right_Arrow (instead you can even use Ctrl + Shift + End). Any of these ways would select the entire data set (excluding headers). Now, use Ctrl + C to copy the selection and then Ctrl + V to paste the filtered data set at the destination cell.

Usually, when you copy the filtered dataset using the above methods, excel does not include the hidden rows in the copy area. The hidden rows are excluded and it only takes the visible rows while copying. However, sometimes when your data is huge, it may not work in expected behavior. In those cases, to play safe, you can use the GoTo (F5) > Special > Visible Cells Only feature to select only the visible rows. The keyboard shortcut for the same is Alt + ; (semi-colon).

Finally, let us now learn how to remove filters from the excel header row. There are multiple ways using which you can remove filters, as listed below-

• The easiest way is to use the keyboard shortcut – Ctrl + Shift + L.
• Another way is to use ribbon path – Data Tab > Sort & Filter Group > Filter option OR Home Tab > Editing Group > Sort & Filter Option > Filter Option.

This post will guide you how to extracts matched values using FILTER function in Microsoft Excel 365. And also will introduce that how to use FILTER function with same examples in Excel 365.

The FILTER function “filters” a set of data according to the conditions specified. The outcome is an array of values that match those in the original range. Simply said, the FILTER function extracts matched records from a collection of data using one or more logical checks. The include argument specifies logical tests, which might encompass a wide variety of formula conditions. For instance, FILTER may match data from a given year or month, data containing specific content, or numbers above a specified threshold.

=FILTER(array,include,[if empty])

Three parameters are required for the FILTER function: array, include, and if empty.

Where:

• Array – This is required argument. The range or array to filter is specified by array.
• Include – This is required argument. Include one or more logical tests in the include These tests should return TRUE or FALSE depending on the array values evaluated.
• If_empty – This is option argument. The last input, if empty, specifies the value to return if FILTER does not discover any matching values. Typically, this is a message along the lines of “No records found,” although other values may also be returned. To show nothing, provide an empty string (“”).

Entering FILTER Formula in Excel

FILTER provides dynamic results. When the values in the source data change or the size of the source data array changes, the FILTER results are updated automatically. The results of FILTER will “leak” into numerous cells on the worksheet.

To filter data in Excel using the FILTER function, follow these steps:

Step1: To begin your filter formula, enter =FILTER(.

Step2: Enter the address for the range of cells containing the data you want to filter, for example, A2:C10.

Step3: Type a comma, followed by the filter's condition, such as B2:B20>3 (To specify a condition, type the address of the “criteria column,” such as C1:C, followed by an operator symbol such as greater than (>), and finally the criterion, such as the number 3.

Step4: Complete the parenthesis with a closing parenthesis and then hit enter on the keyboard. Your full formula will appear as follows: =FILTER(A2:C10, B2:B20>3)

I’ll begin with the fundamentals of utilizing the FILTER function, and then demonstrate some more advanced uses of the FILTER function. This article discusses the FILTER function as a formula entered into spreadsheet cells, not the filter command accessible from the toolbar and pop-up menus.

While using the FILTER function in Excel is almost identical to using it in Google Sheets, there are some subtle variations.

Excel filtering by a single criteria

To begin, let’s review how to use Excel’s FILTER function in its simplest version, with a single condition/criteria.

I’ll demonstrate how to filter data using a number, a cell value, a text string, or a date… and I’ll also demonstrate how to utilize a variety of “operators” in the filter condition (Less than, Equal to, etc…).

Example 1: How to use a number as a filter

In this first demonstration of how to use the filter tool in Excel, we have a list of students and their grades and wish to create a filtered list of only students with flawless grades.

The assignment: Display a list of students and their grades, but only those who have earned an A.

The reasoning: Filter the range A2:B10 for values larger than 0.7 in the column B2:B10 (70 percent ). Then you can use the following FILTER formula,type:

=FILTER(A2:B10, B2:B10 >0.7)

Example 2: How to filter in Excel by a cell value

In this excel filter function example, we want to do the same thing as stated before, but rather than inputting the condition straight into the formula, we’re going to use a cell reference.

When you filter in Excel by a cell value, your sheet is configured in such a way that you may alter the value in the cell at any moment, which updates the value to which the filter criterion is tied.

In this example, rather than explicitly entering the value “0.8” into the formula, the filter criterion is set to cell G1, which contains the “0.8” value.

The assignment: Display a list of students and their grades, but only those with a score of less than 80%.

The reasoning: Filter the range A2:B10 to the extent that B2:B10 is smaller than the value supplied in column G1 (0.8).

You can use the following FILTER formula, type:

=FILTER(A2:B10, B2:B10 <G1)

Example 3: Using Excel’s text filter

In this example, we’ll utilize a text string as the filter formula’s criterion. This is fairly similar to using a number, except that the text to filter must be enclosed in quote marks.

We are filtering a list of customers and their payment status in this instance, and we want to present just customers with a payment status of “Payed“.

The objective is to provide a list of clients that have paid on their payments.

The reasoning: Filter the range A2:B6 by substituting the string “ Payed ” for B2:B6.

The following formula: In this example, the formula below is typed in the cell (E1).

=FILTER(A3:B12, B2:B6=" Payed ")

Example 4: Using NOT EQUAL TO as a FILTER condition in Excel

Now that you have a working knowledge of how to use the filter function in Excel, here is another example of filtering by a string of text, but this time we will use the “not equal” operator (<>) to demonstrate how to filter a range and return data that is NOT equal to the criteria you set.

Additionally, we will utilize a bigger data set in this example to show a more comprehensive usage of the FILTER function in the real world.

You may be surprised at how often a circumstance arises in which you need to filter data that is “not equal to” a certain number or piece of text.

In this example, we’ll use a report/spreadsheet to display data from sales calls that occur at your organization, and we’ll filter the data to exclude a certain sales person (Scott) from the result.

The assignment: Display sales call statistics for all sales representatives except ” Scott “.

The reasoning: Filter the range A2:C10 for values A2:A10 that DO NOT match the string “Scott “.

The following formula: In this example, the formula below is typed in the cell (E1).

=FILTER(A2:C10, A2:A10 <>"Scott")

Take note that the filtered data on the right side of the figure above does not include any of Scott ‘s rows/calls.

 Example 5: How to use the date filter in Excel

Filtering in Excel by a date may be accomplished in a few different methods, which I will demonstrate below. If you attempt to put a date into the FILTER function in the same way that you would typically type into a cell, the formula will fail to operate properly.

Therefore, you may either enter the date you want to filter into a cell and then reference that cell in your formula… Alternatively,  you may use the DATE function.

When filtering by date, the same operators (>, =, etc…) are available as they are in other FILTER function applications. Each individual day/date in Excel is merely a number that has been formatted differently. In Excel, for example, the date “01/30/2022” is just the serial number “44591” formatted as a date. Each time you add a day to the calendar, this number increases by one… For example, “44591” “44592” “44593”

Thus, if one date is farther in the future, it might be regarded “greater than” another. In contrast, if one date is farther in the past, it might be considered to be “less than” another.

In this example, we’ll use a cell reference to filter on a date. This is identical to the example discussed in Example 2, except that we are dealing with dates instead of percentages.

Consider the following scenario: we want to filter a list of students, their exam results, and the dates on which the tests were administered… and we wish to display only tests conducted before to June (05/01/2022).

=FILTER(A2:C10, C2:C10 <G1)

Example 6: Filtering by date in Excel

In this example of date filtering in Excel, we’ll use the same data as in the previous one and attempt to obtain the same results… however, instead of referencing a cell, we’ll utilize the DATE function, which allows you to put the date straight into the FILTER function.

When using the DATE function to provide a date, you must first input the year, followed by the month and finally the day… each denoted with a comma (shown below).

The assignment: Display only exams given before to May

The reasoning: Filter the range A2:C10 so that C2:C10 is less than or equal to the date (05/01/2022).

The following formula: In this example, the formula below is typed in the cell (D3).

=FILTER(A2:C10,C2:C10<DATE(2022,5,1))

Example 7: Filtering based on two Conditions

When utilizing the Excel FILTER function, you may want to produce data that fits many criteria. I’ll demonstrate two methods for filtering by several criteria in Excel, depending on the scenario and the desired behavior of the calculation.

The conventional method of adding another condition to your filter function (as shown by the Excel formula syntax) allows you to provide a second condition, where both the first AND second conditions must be fulfilled in order for the filter output to be returned.

However, I will demonstrate how to make a little tweak to the function so that you may choose to return/display in the filter function’s output/destination a second condition where EITHER condition might be satisfied. (To utilize AND logic, separate the conditions with an asterisk, or use a plus symbol to separate the criteria.)

In this example, we’re going to filter a collection of data and show those rows that satisfy BOTH the first and second conditions.

To utilize a second condition in this manner (using AND logic), just insert it after the first condition in the formula, separated by an asterisk (*). Each condition must be included in a separate pair of parentheses.

When a filter formula is used with several conditions, the columns referenced in each condition must be distinct.

In this case, we’d want to filter a list of clients based on their payment status and region… and to display those customers who are both current members AND paid on their payment status.

The objective is to provide a list of customers who are paid on payments, but only those who are in East region.

The reasoning: Filter the range A2:C6 such that B2:B6 equals the text “Paid,” AND C2:C6 equals the text “East“.

The following formula: In this example, the formula below is typed in the blue cell (E1).

=FILTER(A2:C6,( B2:B6="Paid")*( C2:C6 ="East"))

Example 8: Filtering Based on Two Conditions using OR Logic

In this example, we’re going to filter a collection of data and show those rows that satisfy either the first OR the second criterion.

To utilize a second condition in this manner (using OR logic), just insert it after the first condition in the formula, separated by a plus sign. Each condition must be included in a separate pair of parentheses (shown below).

When used in this manner, the FILTER formula allows you to choose criteria from the same or separate columns.

In this case, we’re filtering the same customer data as in the previous example, but this time we’re displaying a list of customers who either are in East region OR have paid on a payment. This will generate a list of clients to whom a payment notification have paid… whether they are current members or east region who have paid on their last payment.

The objective is to provide a list of customers who are in East region, as well as customers who have paid on payments regardless of whether they are in East region.

The following formula: In this example, the formula below is typed in the cell (E1).

=FILTER(A2:C6, (B2:B6="Paid ")+(C2:C6=" East ")

Example 9: Filter Data in Excel from Another Sheet

You may often encounter instances in Excel when you need to filter data from another sheet, where your raw unfiltered data is on one tab and your filter formula is on another sheet.

This may be accomplished by simply referring to a certain sheet’s name when providing the filter’s ranges. Thus, while you would typically give a range such as “A1:B4,” when referring another sheet when filtering, you indicate the sheet name by preceding the range with the sheet name and an exclamation mark, as in “SheetName!A1:B4“.

However, if the sheet name contains a space, an apostrophe must be used before and after the sheet name, as in "Sheet Name!" A1:B4.

The following is an example of how to filter data in Excel from a separate sheet, where the filter formula is located on a different sheet than the source range.

Consider the following scenario: On one sheet, you have a list of customers and their payment status, and you wish to present a filtered list of  paid customer on another sheet.

The job is to filter the list of customers on the Sheet3 and to display a separate list of customer names with a pay status on another worksheet.

The reasoning: Filter the range using the Sheet3‘ command! A2:C6, where ‘ Sheet3′ is the range! B2:B6 corresponds to the phrase “Paid“.

The following formula: In this example, the formula below is typed in the cell (A3).

=FILTER(Sheet3! A2:C6, Sheet3!B2:B6="Paid")

Example 10: Providing Maximum Number of Rows of Filtered Data

If your FILTER formula provides a large number of rows but your worksheet is restricted in space and you are unable to erase the data below, you may limit the amount of rows returned by the FILTER function.

Let us demonstrate how it works using a simple formula that filter data that grade is less than 0.7 from filter value in Cell F1:

=FILTER(A2:C10, B2:B10<F1)

The preceding formula produces all records that it discovers, in this instance five rows. However, imagine you only have room for two. To output just the first two rows discovered, follow these steps:

Step1: Incorporate the FILTER formula into the INDEX function’s array parameter

Step2: Use a vertical array constant such as 1;2 as the row num input to INDEX. It specifies the number of rows to return (2 in our case).

Step3: Use a horizontal array constant such as 1,2 for the column num parameter. It defines the columns that should be returned (the first 2 columns in this example).

Step4: To account for any mistakes caused by the absence of data meeting your criteria, you may wrap your calculation in the IFERROR function.

The entire excel filter formula is as follows:

=IFERROR(INDEX(FILTER(A2:C10, B2:B10<F1), {1;2},{1,2}), "No Found")

Conclusion

This section discusses the FILTER function and its many uses. In general, when it comes to time management, we need this feature for a variety of reasons. I demonstrated various techniques with accompanying examples, however there might be countless further iterations based on a variety of circumstances. If you know of another way to use this function, please share it with us.

• Excel IFERROR function
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• Excel INDEX function
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