Try it!
Use filters to temporarily hide some of the data in a table, so you can focus on the data you want to see.
Filter a range of data
-
Select any cell within the range.
-
Select Data > Filter.
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Select the column header arrow
. -
Select Text Filters or Number Filters, and then select a comparison, like Between.
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Enter the filter criteria and select OK.
.
Filter data in a table
When you Create and format tables, filter controls are automatically added to the table headers.
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Select the column header arrow
for the column you want to filter. -
Uncheck (Select All) and select the boxes you want to show.
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Click OK.
The column header arrow 
changes to a 
Filter icon. Select this icon to change or clear the filter.
Want more?
Filter data in a range or table
Filter data in a PivotTable
Need more help?
What is Filter in Excel?
The filter in excel helps display relevant data by eliminating the irrelevant entries temporarily from the view. The data is filtered as per the given criteria. The purpose of filtering is to focus on the crucial areas of a dataset. For example, the city-wise sales data of an organization can be filtered by the location. Hence, the user can view the sales of selected cities at a given time.
A filter is necessarily required when working with a huge database. Being a widely used tool, the filter converts a comprehensive view into an easy-to-understand one. To apply filters, the dataset must contain a header row which specifies the name of every column.
Table of contents
- What is Filter in Excel?
- How to Filter in Excel?
- Method 1: With Filter Option Under the Home tab
- Method 2: With Filter Option Under the Data tab
- Method 3: With the Shortcut key
- How to Add Filters in Excel?
- Example #1–“Number Filters” Option
- Example #2–“Search Box” Option
- Option while you Drop Down the Filter Function
- The Techniques of Filtering in Excel
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Recommended Articles
- How to Filter in Excel?
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How to Filter in Excel?
You can download this Filter Column Excel Template here – Filter Column Excel Template
It is good to work with filters because they fit our needs the way we want to. In order to filter data, select the entries to be visible and deselect the rest of the items.
The three methods to add filters in excel are listed as follows:
- With filter option under the Home tab
- With filter option under the Data tab
- With the shortcut key
Let us consider a dataset to go through the three methods of adding filters.
The following table shows the invoices issued to the buyers of different cities. We want to filter the data using different methods.
Method 1: With Filter Option Under the Home tab
In the Home tab, there is a “filter” option under the “sort and filter” drop-down of the “editing” section, as shown in the following image.
Step 1: Select the data and click “filter” under the “sort and filter” drop-down.
Step 2: The filters are added to the selected data range. The drop-down arrows, shown within the red boxes in the following image, are filters.
Step 3: Click the drop-down arrow of the column “city” to view the different names of the cities.
Step 4: To see the invoice values of “Delhi” only, select “Delhi” and uncheck all the remaining boxes.
Step 5: The data for the city “Delhi” is filtered and displayed in the following image.
Method 2: With Filter Option Under the Data tab
In the Data tab, there is a “filter” option under the “sort and filter” section, as shown in the following image.
Method 3: With the Shortcut key
The keyboard shortcutsAn Excel shortcut is a technique of performing a manual task in a quicker way.read more are a good way to speed up the daily tasks. Select the data and add the filter using either of the following shortcuts:
- Press the keys “Shift+Ctrl+L” together.
- Press the keys “Alt+D+F+F” together.
Note: The preceding shortcuts for adding filtersUsing sorting and filtering, we can see the data category wise. With filtering data quickly you can easily navigate through menus or clicking through a mouse in less time.read more are toggle keys. Repetitive pressing helps to turn on and turn off the filters.
How to Add Filters in Excel?
We can filter numbers using advanced techniques. Let us consider some examples to understand the working of filters in Excel.
Example #1–“Number Filters” Option
Working on the data under the preceding heading (methods of filtering in Excel), we want to apply the following filters:
a. To filter column B (invoice value) for numbers greater than 10000
b. To filter column B for numbers greater than 10000 but less than 20000
Let us go through the two cases one by one.
a. Filter numbers greater than 10000
Step 1: Open the filter in column B (invoice value) by clicking on the filter symbol.
Step 2: In “number filters,” choose the “greater than” option, as shown in the following image.
Step 3: The “custom autofilter” box appears.
Step 4: Enter the number 10000 in the box to the right of “is greater than.”
Step 5: The output displays the invoice values greater than 10000. The symbol within the red box is the filter icon. It indicates that the filter has been applied to column B.
b. Filter numbers greater than 10000 but less than 20000
Step 1: In “number filters,” choose the “greater than” option.
Step 2: In the “custom autofilter” box, select “is less than” in the second box to the left-hand side. This is shown in the following image.
Step 3: Enter the number 10000 in the box to the right of “is greater than.” Enter the number 20000 in the box to the right of “is less than.”
Step 4: The output displays the invoice values greater than 10000 but less than 20000.
Example #2–“Search Box” Option
Working on the data under the preceding heading (methods of filtering in Excel), we have replaced the first column (city) with product IDs.
We want to filter the details of product ID “prd 1.”
The steps are listed as follows:
Step 1: Add filters to the columns “product ID” and “invoice value.”
Step 2: In the search boxA search box in Excel finds the needed data by typing into it, then filters the data and displays only that much info. When working with large datasheets, this simple tool may save a lot of time.read more, enter the value that is to be filtered. So, enter “prd 1.”
Step 3: The output displays only the filtered value from the list, as shown in the following image. Hence, we can see the invoice value of the product ID “prd 1.”
Option while you Drop Down the Filter Function
- Sort A to Z and Sort Z to A: If you wish to arrange your data ascending or descending order.
- Sort by Color: If you want to filter the data by color if a cell is filled by color.
- Text filter: When you want to filter a column with some exact text or number.
- Filter cells that begin with or end with an exact character or the text
- Filter cells that contain or do not contain a given character or word anywhere in the text.
- Filter cells that are exactly equal or not equal to a detailed character.
For example:
- Suppose you want to use the filter for a specific item. Click on to text filter and choose equals.
- It enables you the one dialogue, which includes a Custom Auto-Filter dialogue box.
- Enter fruits under category and click Ok.
- Now you will get the data of fruits category only as shown below.
The Techniques of Filtering in Excel
The following techniques must be followed while filtering data:
- If the dataset is large, type the value to be filtered. This filters all the possible matches.
- If numerical data has to be filtered by specifying the greater than or the less than number, use the “number filters” option.
- If data has to be filtered by the color of specific rows, use the “filter by color” option.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are filters and how to add them in Excel?
Filtering is a technique which displays the required information and removes the unwanted data from the view. It helps the user focus on the relevant data at a given time.
The steps to add filters in Excel are listed as follows:
• Ensure that a header row appears on top of the data, specifying the column labels.
• Select the data on which filters are to be added.
• Add filters by any of the three given methods.
o Click the “filter” option under the “sort and filter” (editing section) drop-down of the Home tab.
o Click the “filter” option under the “sort and filter” section of the Data tab.
o Press the keys “Shift+Ctrl+L” or “Alt+D+F+F.”
Note: As soon as the filters are added, a drop-down arrow appears on the particular column header.
2. How to apply filters to one or more columns?
The steps to apply filters to one or more columns are listed as follows:
• Click the drop-down arrow of the column to be filtered.
• Uncheck the “select all” option which helps deselect all data.
• Select the boxes to be displayed.
• Click “Ok.”
The drop-down arrow changes to the filter icon as soon as a filter is applied. When filters are applied to multiple columns, the filter icon appears on each one of them. Hovering over the filter icon shows the filters that have been applied.
Note: The drop-down arrow on a column header indicates a filter is added. The filter icon indicates a filter has been applied.
3. How to use filters in Excel?
The filters can be applied to numbers, text values, and dates. These cases are discussed as follows:
Filter numbers
• Click on the “number filters.”
• Select any of the options like “equals,” “does not equals,” “greater than,” “less than,” “between,” “above average,” and so on.
• Specify the required fields in the dialog box that appears. This box may or may not be displayed.
For instance, in “equals,” enter the number against which the values should be compared. The filtered results show the matching numerical values.
Filter text and date values
• To filter text and date values, select “text filters” and “date filters” from the respective drop-down arrows.
• The “text filters” allow filtering text strings which contain specific characters or words. The “date filters” allow filtering dates for a particular year, month, week, and so on.
Note: The “plus” and the “minus” sign of the date filters are used for expanding and collapsing the various levels respectively.
Recommended Articles
This has been a guide to Filter in Excel. Here we discuss how to use/add filters in excel along with step by step examples and a downloadable template. You may learn more about Excel from the following articles –
- VBA FilterThe VBA Filter tool is used to sort out or fetch the desired data. However, this function accepts optional arguments, and the only required argument is an expression that covers the range, such as worksheets(«Sheet1»). Range(“A1”).read more
- How to Filter Pivot Table?By right-clicking on the pivot table, we can access the pivot table filter option. Another approach is to use the filter options available in the pivot table fields.read more
- Advanced Filter in ExcelThe advanced filter is different from the auto filter in Excel. This feature is not like a button that one can use with a single click of the mouse. To use an advanced filter, we have to define criteria for the auto filter and then click on the “Data” tab. Then, in the advanced section for the advanced filter, we will fill our criteria for the data.read more
- Types of Filters in Power BIThe filter function in Power BI is more commonly used to read data or reports based on multiple criteria. Visual level filters, page-level filters, report-level filters, drill-through filters, and so on are all available filters in Power Bi.read more
#Руководства
- 5 авг 2022
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0
Как из сотен строк отобразить только необходимые? Как отфильтровать таблицу сразу по нескольким условиям и столбцам? Разбираемся на примерах.
Иллюстрация: Meery Mary для Skillbox Media
Рассказывает просто о сложных вещах из мира бизнеса и управления. До редактуры — пять лет в банке и три — в оценке имущества. Разбирается в Excel, финансах и корпоративной жизни.
Фильтры в Excel — инструмент, с помощью которого из большого объёма информации выбирают и показывают только нужную в данный момент. После фильтрации в таблице отображаются данные, которые соответствуют условиям пользователя. Данные, которые им не соответствуют, скрыты.
В статье разберёмся:
- как установить фильтр по одному критерию;
- как установить несколько фильтров одновременно и отфильтровать таблицу по заданному условию;
- для чего нужен расширенный фильтр и как им пользоваться;
- как очистить фильтры.
Фильтрация данных хорошо знакома пользователям интернет-магазинов. В них не обязательно листать весь ассортимент, чтобы найти нужный товар. Можно заполнить критерии фильтра, и платформа скроет неподходящие позиции.
Фильтры в Excel работают по тому же принципу. Пользователь выбирает параметры данных, которые ему нужно отобразить, — и Excel убирает из таблицы всё лишнее.
Разберёмся, как это сделать.
Для примера воспользуемся отчётностью небольшого автосалона. В таблице собрана информация о продажах: характеристики авто, цены, даты продажи и ответственные менеджеры.
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
Допустим, нужно показать продажи только одного менеджера — Соколова П. Воспользуемся фильтрацией.
Шаг 1. Выделяем ячейку внутри таблицы — не обязательно ячейку столбца «Менеджер», любую.
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
Шаг 2. На вкладке «Главная» нажимаем кнопку «Сортировка и фильтр».
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
Шаг 3. В появившемся меню выбираем пункт «Фильтр».
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
То же самое можно сделать через кнопку «Фильтр» на вкладке «Данные».
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
Шаг 4. В каждой ячейке шапки таблицы появились кнопки со стрелками — нажимаем на кнопку столбца, который нужно отфильтровать. В нашем случае это столбец «Менеджер».
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
Шаг 5. В появившемся меню флажком выбираем данные, которые нужно оставить в таблице, — в нашем случае данные менеджера Соколова П., — и нажимаем кнопку «Применить фильтр».
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
Готово — таблица показывает данные о продажах только одного менеджера. На кнопке со стрелкой появился дополнительный значок. Он означает, что в этом столбце настроена фильтрация.
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
Чтобы ещё уменьшить количество отображаемых в таблице данных, можно применять несколько фильтров одновременно. При этом как фильтр можно задавать не только точное значение ячеек, но и условие, которому отфильтрованные ячейки должны соответствовать.
Разберём на примере.
Выше мы уже отфильтровали таблицу по одному параметру — оставили в ней продажи только менеджера Соколова П. Добавим второй параметр — среди продаж Соколова П. покажем автомобили дороже 1,5 млн рублей.
Шаг 1. Открываем меню фильтра для столбца «Цена, руб.» и нажимаем на параметр «Выберите».
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
Шаг 2. Выбираем критерий, которому должны соответствовать отфильтрованные ячейки.
В нашем случае нужно показать автомобили дороже 1,5 млн рублей — выбираем критерий «Больше».
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
Шаг 3. Дополняем условие фильтрации — в нашем случае «Больше 1500000» — и нажимаем «Применить фильтр».
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
Готово — фильтрация сработала по двум параметрам. Теперь таблица показывает только те проданные менеджером авто, цена которых была выше 1,5 млн рублей.
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
Расширенный фильтр позволяет фильтровать таблицу по сложным критериям сразу в нескольких столбцах.
Это можно сделать способом, который мы описали выше: поочерёдно установить несколько стандартных фильтров или фильтров с условиями пользователя. Но в случае с объёмными таблицами этот способ может быть неудобным и трудозатратным. Для экономии времени применяют расширенный фильтр.
Принцип работы расширенного фильтра следующий:
- Копируют шапку исходной таблицы и создают отдельную таблицу для условий фильтрации.
- Вводят условия.
- Запускают фильтрацию.
Разберём на примере. Отфильтруем отчётность автосалона по трём критериям:
- менеджер — Шолохов Г.;
- год выпуска автомобиля — 2019-й или раньше;
- цена — до 2 млн рублей.
Шаг 1. Создаём таблицу для условий фильтрации — для этого копируем шапку исходной таблицы и вставляем её выше.
Важное условие — между таблицей с условиями и исходной таблицей обязательно должна быть пустая строка.
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
Шаг 2. В созданной таблице вводим критерии фильтрации:
- «Год выпуска» → <=2019.
- «Цена, руб.» → <2000000.
- «Менеджер» → Шолохов Г.
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
Шаг 3. Выделяем любую ячейку исходной таблицы и на вкладке «Данные» нажимаем кнопку «Дополнительно».
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
Шаг 4. В появившемся окне заполняем параметры расширенного фильтра:
- Выбираем, где отобразятся результаты фильтрации: в исходной таблице или в другом месте. В нашем случае выберем первый вариант — «Фильтровать список на месте».
- Диапазон списка — диапазон таблицы, для которой нужно применить фильтр. Он заполнен автоматически, для этого мы выделяли ячейку исходной таблицы перед тем, как вызвать меню.
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
- Диапазон условий — диапазон таблицы с условиями фильтрации. Ставим курсор в пустое окно параметра и выделяем диапазон: шапку таблицы и строку с критериями. Данные диапазона автоматически появляются в окне параметров расширенного фильтра.
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Шаг 5. Нажимаем «ОК» в меню расширенного фильтра.
Готово — исходная таблица отфильтрована по трём заданным параметрам.
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
Отменить фильтрацию можно тремя способами:
1. Вызвать меню отфильтрованного столбца и нажать на кнопку «Очистить фильтр».
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
2. Нажать на кнопку «Сортировка и фильтр» на вкладке «Главная». Затем — либо снять галочку напротив пункта «Фильтр», либо нажать «Очистить фильтр».
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
3. Нажать на кнопку «Очистить» на вкладке «Данные».
Скриншот: Excel / Skillbox Media
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This post will explain 7 keyboard shortcuts for the filter drop down menus. This includes my new favorite shortcut, and it’s one that I think you will really like!
This post will explain 7 keyboard shortcuts for the filter drop-down menus. This includes my new favorite shortcut, and it’s one that I think you will really like!
The Filter drop-down menus (formerly known as Auto Filters in Excel 2003) are an extremely useful tool for sorting and filtering your data. When the Filters are applied you will see small drop-down icon images in the header (top) row of your data range.
These menus can be accessed with keyboard shortcuts, which makes it really fast to apply filters and sorting to different columns in your table. So let’s take a look at these shortcuts.
#1 – Turn Filters On or Off
Ctrl+Shift+L is the keyboard shortcut to turn the filters on/off. You can see this shortcut by going to the Data tab on the Ribbon and hovering over the Filter button with the mouse. The screen tip will appear below the button and it displays the keyboard shortcut in the top line. This works with a lot of buttons in the ribbon and is a great way to learn keyboard shortcuts. See the image below.
To apply the drop down filters you will first need to select a cell in your data range. If your data range contains any blank columns or rows then it is best to select the entire range of cells.
Once the data cell(s) are selected, press Ctrl+Shift+L to apply the filters. The drop down filter menus should appear in the header row of your data, as shown in the image below.
#2 Display the Filter Drop Down Menu
Alt+Down Arrow is the keyboard shortcut to open the drop down menu. To use this shortcut:
- Select a cell in the header row. The cell must contain the filter drop down icon.
- Press and hold the Alt key, then press the Down Arrow key on the keyboard to open the filter menu.
Once the drop down menu is open, there are a lot of keyboard shortcuts that apply to this menu. These shortcuts are explained next.
Bonus Tip: If you are using Excel Tables, and I highly recommend you do, you can press Shift+Alt+ Down Arrow from any cell inside the table to open the filter drop-down menu for that column.
This shortcut was introduced in Excel 2010 for Windows, and works in all newer versions as well.
#3 Underlined Letters & Arrow Keys
The underlined letters in the drop-down menu are the shortcut keys for each command. For example, pressing the letter “S” on the keyboard will Sort the column A to Z. You must first press Alt+Down Arrow to display the drop down menu. So here are the full keyboard shortcuts for the filter drop down menu:
- Alt+Down Arrow+S – Sort A to Z
- Alt+Down Arrow+O – Sort Z to A
- Alt+Down Arrow+T – Sort by Color sub menu
- Alt+Down Arrow+I – Filter by Color sub menu
- Alt+Down Arrow+F – Text or Date Filter sub menu
#4 Check/Uncheck Filter Items
The up and down arrow keys will move through the items in the drop down menu. You can press the Enter key to perform that action. This requires the drop down menu to be open by first pressing Alt+Down Arrow. See the image in #3 above for details.
Starting in Excel 2007, a list of unique items appears at the bottom of the filter drop down menu with check boxes next to each item. You can use the up/down arrow keys to select these items in the list. When an item is selected, pressing the space bar will check/uncheck the check box. Then press Enter to apply the filter.
#5 Search Box – My New FAVORITE
Starting in Excel 2010 a Search box was added to the filter drop-down menu. Excel 2011 for Mac users also get this feature.
This search box allows you to type a search and narrow down the results of the filter items in the list below it.
When the filter drop down menu is open, you can press the letter “E” on the keyboard to jump to the search box. This places the cursor in the search box and you can begin typing your search.
Alt+Down+Arrow+E is the shortcut to open the filter drop down menu and jump directly to the search box.
I just learned this shortcut and it is my new favorite because it makes it so fast to type and filter exactly what you are looking for in the list. Prior to learning this I was using the down arrow key to get to the search box. This required me to press the down arrow key 7 times to get to the search box. Now I can do the same thing in one step by pressing the letter “E”. What a time saver!
Bonus – Jump to the Checkbox List
If you want to jump down to the checkbox list below the Search box, you can just press Tab after Alt+Down Arrow, E.
So the full keyboard shortcut is: Alt+Down Arrow, E, Tab (or Down Arrow)
You can use either the Down Arrow or Tab keys. Down Arrow will probably be easier since you just pressed Down Arrow to open the filter menu.
However, if the column contains dates then you need to press Tab twice. There is an additional drop-down menu to search by Year, Month, Date. Down Arrow opens that menu and selects each item.
Therefore, it’s probably best to get used to using Tab to get there since it works in all situations.
Once you press the shortcut, focus will be set to the (Select All) checkbox in the list box. You can then use the following shortcuts to navigate and select the checkboxes.
- Space Bar checks/unchecks items.
- Up/Down Arrows to select items.
- End jumps to last item.
- Home jumps to first item.
- Page Up/Down to jump to first/last item in view.
#6 Clear Filters in Column
Alt+Down Arrow+C will clear the filters in the selected column. Again, this is a combination of the Alt+Down Arrow to open the filter menu, then the letter “C” to clear the filter.
This would be the same as pressing the (Select All) checkbox in the item list. The next shortcut will explain how to clear all the filters in all columns.
#7 Clear All Filters
Alt+A+C is the keyboard shortcut to clear all the filters in the current filtered range. This means that all the filters in all the columns will be cleared, and all rows of your data will be displayed.
I add the Clear Filter button to the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) and would highly recommend that you do this. It serves two purposes that are very helpful.
- You can quickly press the button in the QAT to clear the filters. If you are a mouse user this means you don’t have to navigate to the Data menu to access the button. You can also use keyboard shortcuts to press the buttons in the QAT. See my articles on how to setup the Quick Access Toolbar and how to use the QAT’s keyboard shortcuts for instructions on this.
_ - Use the button to visually see if any filters are applied. This is the most important benefit to me. If any filters are applied to the filter range, then the Clear Filter button in the QAT will show color (enabled). If no filters are applied then the button is grayed out (disabled). See the image below for details.
_
Debra Dalgleish has a great post and video with a few additional tips to Clear Excel Fitlers with a Single Click over at the Contextures blog.
#8 Filter for Blank or Non-blank Cells or Rows
Alt+Down Arrow+F+E+Enter will filter for blanks cells in the column.
The F,E combo opens the Custom AutoFilter menu where you can type a search term. The box is blank by default. So if you just hit Enter when the Custom AutoFilter menu opens, the column will be filtered for blanks.
This is another one of my new favorites! It’s much faster than unchecking the Select All box, then scrolling to the bottom of the item list.
You can also filter for Non-blanks using the shortcut Alt+Down Arrow+F+N+Enter. This opens the Custom AutoFilter menu and sets the comparison operator to does not equal. The criteria is blank by default, so this applies a filter for non-blank cells. Thanks to Nilesh for leaving a comment and inspiring this one!
Bonus Tip
Typically you can only have one range filtered on a sheet at a time. This means that if you have more than one range of data on a sheet, you can not apply the Filters menus to both ranges.
If you use the new Excel Tables feature (introduced in Excel 2007 and available for 2011 for Mac) then you can apply Filters to each table in the same worksheet.
Checkout my video tutorial on Tables to learn more about all the great time saving benefits they have to offer.
Want More? – Download the Workbook
I hope you’ve learned some new tricks that will save you time when working with Filters. In my opinion, the keyboard shortcuts are the fastest way to work with these menus. I encourage you to practice these techniques, and also share them with a friend that might benefit.
I have also created a free workbook that contains over 25 keyboard shortcuts for the Filter Menus. The workbook is organized by topic and contains images that will help you learn the shortcuts. It also includes a data table where you can practice the shortcuts.
Filter Drop-down Shortcuts Workbook.xlsx
Please click the link above and the Excel file that contains the shortcuts will be emailed to you immediately.
You will also have the option to subscribe to my free email newsletter to stay updated with new articles and videos that will help you learn Excel. After confirming your subscription you will be able to download my “10 Excel Pro Tips” eBook. It’s all free!
Challenge Question
What does the following keyboard shortcut sequence do? The selected cell must be in the header of a filtered range.
Alt+Down Arrow+E, Down Arrow, Space Bar, Shift+End, Space Bar, Enter
Please leave a comment below with your answer. Thanks!
How to Filter in Excel: Full Step-by-Step Guide (2023)
Working with large datasets in Excel can make it hard to find relevant information.
The filter tool offered by Microsoft Excel makes it easy for users to narrow down their data to find what’s relevant.
To learn more about the filter tool of Excel (both basic and advanced), jump right into the article below.
Also, as you scroll down, download our sample workbook for free here.
How to filter in Excel
The filter tool of Excel is a quick way to filter out the desired information only.
For example, the image below contains the sale data for some products.
1. Apply filters to this data by selecting the header of the column where the filter is to be applied.
2. For example, if you want to filter sales based on product name, select the header for products.
3. Go to the Data Tab > Sort & Filter > Filter.
Pro Tip!
There are two alternate shortcuts that you can use to apply filters to your data.
- Go to Home > Editing Group > Sort & Filter > Filter
- Use the keyboard shortcut to add filters – Control Key + Shift + L
4. This adds drop-down arrows to the selected column header (Products in this case).
5. The filter is already applied, and you can now use it to filter our information as desired.
Must note that to apply filters, your data must have a proper column header where the filter is to be applied.
Using the filter tool, you can apply filters based on numeric or text values, format, or by criteria.
Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Office SpecialistHow to filter by text
Can you quickly filter out the sales of Apples made during the period❓
Simple. From the list of products, filter out the text ‘Apples’. The sales of Apples would be automatically filtered.
1. Apply filters to the column of products as explained above.
2. Click on the drop-down menu to launch the filter options.
3. The filter tool shows all the items that appear in the selected column.
4. From these items, uncheck all others, except for ‘Apples’.
5. Click Okay, and you’re good to go!👍
6. Excel filters out the sales of ‘Apples’ only
Quickly applying the SUM function to this sale tells that the total sales for Apples were $2940.
To save time that goes into checking and unchecking items, type the desired text (Apples) in the Search bar above and press Enter.
Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Office SpecialistHow to filter by numbers
Next is filtering in Excel using numbers.
The AutoFilter tool of Excel allows you to filter data based on numbers in a variety of ways.
Check out the variety of options in the image below.
You can set up any parameter. Like filtering numbers that equal to say $1000 or are less / more than $1000 or whatever.
Alternatively, you can simply sort numbers in descending or ascending order.
In the above example, let’s apply a filter based on numbers. For instance, let’s filter out the sales that are equal to or less than $400.
1. Select the column for Total Sales and apply the filter tool to it.
2. Launch the filter tool by clicking on the drop-down arrow.
3. Go to Number Filters.
4. To filter out the sales that are equal to or less than $400, choose an appropriate parameter.
5. This launches the Custom AutoFilter dialog box.
6. Against the ‘Less than or Equal to’ tab, input the number ‘400.
7. Click Okay.
8. Excel filters the sales as follows.
Excel has filtered out sales that were only equal to or less than $400.
Multiple filters simultaneously
Can you apply filters to multiple columns simultaneously?
For example, for the above data set, what if we want to filter out sales for Apples that are greater than $800?
This takes two filters:
- Text filters to filter out sales for the Product ‘Apples’.
- Number filters to filter out sales of Apples that exceed $800.
No worries. It’s still a piece of cake. See below.
1. Apply filters to the Product column.
2. From the filter drop-down menu, select ‘Apples’ to filter out sales for ‘Apples’ only.
3. Click ‘Okay’ and Excel filters out the sales of ‘Apples’ only
4. Next, apply filters to the column ‘Total Sales.’
5. Launch the filter tool by clicking on the drop-down arrow against the column heading ‘Total Sales”.
6. Go to Number Filters.
7. To filter out the sales that are more than $800, choose an appropriate parameter.
8. This launches the Custom AutoFilter dialog box. Against the ‘Greater than’ tab, input the number 800.
9. Click Okay, and Excel filters the sales as follows.
There you go! The AutoFilter tool filters out the sales of Apples that exceed $800.
You can apply as many filters as desired at any given time.
Pro Tip!
How do you know which columns of your data have the filter applied?🙋♂️
Look out for the filter (funnel) icon in place of the drop-down arrow. All the column headers that have this icon have the filter applied.
How to clear filters in Excel
There’s an undo to everything you do in Excel.
After you’ve applied filters to data, the drop-down menu for that column header takes a filter shape.
In this example, we have applied the filter to the column ‘Products’ to filter out the sales for ‘Apples’ only.
1. To remove this filter, go to the filter icon of the relevant column.
2. Launch the AutoFilter tool.
3. Select the option “Remove Filters.”
4. Alternatively, Go to Data > Sort & Filter > Clear.
5. This removes the filter “Apples” applied to Products.
Excel now shows all the products (apples, oranges, and kiwi).
Also, note how the filter icon is now again replaced by the drop-down arrow.
How to remove filters entirely
In the above section, we’ve seen how to remove filters from a particular filter column.
But what if you want to remove filters from your data set entirely?
1. Select the data from where you want to remove filters.
2. Go to Data > Sort & Filter > Click Filter Button again.
This removes the AutoFilter from the data.
3. No more drop-down arrows.
Remember the shortcut to Apply Filters? Control Key + Shift + L.
Press these three keys together to apply filters. Press them again together to remove the filters.
Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Office SpecialistFilter by color in Excel
You can also use the AutoFilter Tool of Excel to filter out specific cells based on their color.
For example, the image below shows the marks of different students.
There’s also a key to the right side that tells how the coloring is done.
Let’s filter out the students who’ve passed.
1. Apply filters to the column that has the highlighted cells.
2. Launch the filter tool. Go to ‘Filter By Color’ and select the color blue.
We have selected the color blue as the key shows that the students who’ve passed are highlighted in blue.
And there you go! Excel only filters the cells that are highlighted in blue.
Advanced Filter in Excel
As the name suggests, advanced filters go a step beyond AutoFilters.
Using the advanced filters tool of Excel, you can apply multiple filters to your data at once.
1. Taking the data below for sales of different products as an example.
2. Let’s filter out sales for Oranges where the Quantity sold was 5 or more.
3. This involves two filters: Oranges and Qty of 5 or more.
4. To apply the Advanced filter, copy and paste the relevant headers of your data to separate cells. Relevant headers in this case are “Products” and “Quantity”
5. Under each header, mention the filter criteria as shown below.
Under the Product header, we have mentioned ‘Oranges’.
Under the Quantity header, we have mentioned the criterion “>=5”
6. Go to Data > Sort & Filter > Advanced.
7. Against the List Range, select the data to be filtered.
8. Against the Criteria Range, select the formatted cells where the criterion is mentioned.
9. Hit Okay. Excel filters the data to show sales of Oranges of 5 or more units only.
Advanced filters allow you to apply many filters at the same time. It further allows you to filter data in its place or create a copy of filtered data to another destined place.
That’s it – Now what?
If you didn’t know about the filter tool of Excel yet, this guide is your savior.
We learned about filtering data based on text and numbers and colors in Excel using the Auto Filter tool. We also took a glance at the advanced filtering tool of Excel.
The filter and advanced filter tool of Excel will help you narrow down your data and pick out the relevant stats in an instant.
Especially, when used to assist other major functions like the VLOOKUP, SUMIF, and IF functions, it eases your Excel jobs by a thousand times.
Don’t know much about these functions? No worries.
Click here to sign up for my free 30-minute email course to help yourself learn these and many more amazing functions of Excel.
Other resources
If you enjoyed learning about AutoFilter and Advanced Filter in Excel, we bet you’d love to know more about the filter function and tools in Excel.
Check out our articles on data validation and creating data tables in Excel.
Kasper Langmann2023-01-19T12:15:20+00:00
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