How To Filter In Excel:
Advanced Filters And Autofiler Explained

Written by co-founder Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Function Specialist.

Massive spreadsheets are difficult to deal with. Searching for the things you want can be difficult. Scrolling through thousands of rows is fifty-fifty worse.

Excel's filtering abilities tin can help.

By using AutoFilter and advanced filters, you can whittle the visible data down to but the data yous want to see. And that makes your job easier.

*This tutorial is for Excel 2019/Microsoft 365 (for Windows). Got a unlike version? No problem, you tin still follow the verbal same steps.

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There's a lot of filter functionality to become over, and it'll exist much easier to learn if you can follow along.

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Using Excel'south AutoFilter

Excel makes it incredibly easy to filter your data. Open up the example workbook and you'll see what I mean.

On the first page, you'll run into that we accept a list of motorcar makes, models, model years, and values. We can use the AutoFilter to get all sorts of data from these columns.

To enable the AutoFilter, click on whatsoever jail cell in the tabular array, and click theFilter push button in theData tab of theRibbon. You'll see some arrows appear in your header row:

filter-button

If that ever doesn't work, highlight the cells in the range yous'd like to filter, and then click theFilter button.

Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of Spreadsheeto

Those little arrows might not seem similar much, but they open up a lot of power.

Click on the filter arrow in theMake column, and you lot'll run into lots of options:

filter-options

At the top, yous'll come across buttons for sorting your data alphabetically (or in reverse) by the selected column.

There's alsoSort by Color, which we covered in our commodity on sorting, andText Filters, which we'll become to in a moment.

For now, though, look at the list at the lesser of the pop-up menu. Y'all'll meet a list of the different car makes in the list, each with a checkbox side by side to its name.

Unchecking one of those boxes filters out that particular brand from the list. Try unchecking "Honda," and you'll run into that the first entry in the listing disappears:

filter-checkbox

Go dorsum in, click on that same box to add a checkmark, and you'll meet that the first entry comes back.

At present, try removing the check from the "(Select All)" box.

filter-select-all

This removes the bank check from every entry in the listing. Excel won't permit you clickOK if you have a completely empty list, though.

So cheque the box for BMW and clickOK.

filtered-list

You can see in the image above that the filter arrow changed to an image of a filter. This reminds you which columns take applied filters at whatever given time.

Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of Spreadsheeto

ClickClear Filter From "Make" in the menu, and you'll have every 1 of the original entries back.

clear-filter

Take note of the search box directly higher up the list, as well.

If you start typing the value you're looking for, Excel will prove you the matching values:

filter-search

Filtering by color

If you utilise colors to code your data (maybe with the always-useful conditional formatting), filtering by color is a dandy characteristic to know about.

And information technology'south equally easy as you'd await.

I've filled a few cells with random colors to bear witness you how it works.

colored-cells

I used 3 colors here, but filtering works with any number of dissimilar colors.

Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of Spreadsheeto

To view only a specific color in your list, click the filter arrow, hover overFilter by Color, and select a colour:

filter-color

When you click on a color, yous'll run across but the cells with a matching fill color:

filtered-color

You can also filter for cells that don't have a background color. Just selectNo Make full from theFilter by Color options.

Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of Spreadsheeto

To view all your cells again, clickClear Filter From "Make" (or the corresponding name of your own column), and you'll have the unabridged listing again.

Pro tip: filtering by multiple colors

You lot might discover that you don't have the option of selecting multiple colors. This is one place where filtering by color falls short of standard filtering. But you lot can practise a bit of a workaround to get a like effect.

To get started, open the filter card and go toSort by Color > Custom Sort. Use the options here to sort the prison cell colors in the lodge you want them (if you need a refresher, check out our article on sorting).

When you have them gear up how you'd like, clickOK.

sorted-colors

Once yous've done that, select the rows that yous don't desire to see, correct-click, and selectHide.

hide-cells

It's non an especially elegant solution, butinformation technology works.

Filtering for specific text

AutoFilter also gives you the ability to filter for specific strings of text. If y'all want to find all entries that kickoff with a B, for instance, yous tin can. Or every entry that doesn't comprise the string "gh67."

To observe these options, click the filter pointer, clickText Filters, and select an choice. Nosotros'll selectBegins With…

text-filter-begins-with

In one case you've made a selection, you'll see the Custom AutoFilter box:

custom-autofilter

From here, select the blazon of filter you want, enter the relevant search information, and clickOK.

Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of Spreadsheeto

For example, if we want to discover the values in the Make column that offset with B or C, we'd run the AutoFilter similar this:

custom-autofilter-example

After nosotros hitOK, we get a list of all the cars whose makes commencement with B or C:

custom-autofilter-results

The other custom text AutoFilter options work the aforementioned way. Select the type of filter you want, enter the relevant messages or words, and hitOK.

And call up that if you desire to access more filtering options than those available in theText Filters menu, clickCustom Filter… at the bottom.

filtered-color

You can also filter for cells that don't have a background color. Simply selectNo Fill from theFilter by Color options.

Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of Spreadsheeto

To view all your cells once again, clickClear Filter From "Make" (or the corresponding proper name of your ain column), and you'll take the entire list again.

Using number filters

Similar the text filters, you can access number filters that let yous filter for cells that meet certain criteria.

Click on the arrow in theValue column, and selectNumber Filters.

number-filters

As yous can meet, there are enough of options, most of which are self-explanatory. The most interesting options areElevation x,Higher up Average, andBelow Average.

And, as with the text filters, y'all can employ theCustom Filter… option to create your own filter co-ordinate to your specifications.

Try creating a few number filters to detect cars that are worth more than $xx,000 and cars that are worth between $15,000 and $17,000.

Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of Spreadsheeto

Advanced filters

With these powerful tools, you might exist wondering what more than you could perchance get from "advanced" filters. And there are actually quite a few things.

Click on theAvant-garde push button in theSort & Filter section to encounter what I hateful.

advanced-filter-button

You lot'll encounter a new window with some unfamiliar-sounding fields.

advanced-filter-button

Equally you might look, theList range is the data that you desire filtered.

Criteria range, however, is something we haven't dealt with even so. Instead of simply clicking on the items yous'd similar to encounter in your filtered listing, advanced filters require that y'all create a criteria range.

Hither's how we'll set that upward. In cells F1, G1, and H1, type "Model," "Twelvemonth," and "Value."

criteria-range

We can now use these columns to create our filter criteria.

For instance, if we blazon "Fit" in the Model cavalcade, we will filter our list then that nosotros only run across cars with the model name "Fit."

To appoint the filter, click onAdvanced again, click into theCriteria range box, and select F1:H2.

criteria

Notation that yous tin type in the criteria range or click-and-drag to select it.

Once you lot're done, hitOK to filter.

Try it for yourself! Type in a model proper noun, so open the avant-garde filter dialog and select your criteria range. When you hittingOK, you'll merely see a subset that matches your criteria.

Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of Spreadsheeto

You tin can also use logical statements to filter.

For instance, you can put ">30000" in the Value column to filter for cars that are worth more than $thirty,000.

And y'all tin use wildcards for text, too. "Yard*" would return models that beginning with Thousand, for instance.

Pro tip: combining criteria

Now that you sympathise the nuts of using a criteria range, we tin talk about some of the more powerful things you tin do.

Including two different criteria on the same row, for example, is equivalent to filtering for an AND logical argument:

criteria-range-and

As you can see in the screenshot above, we've filtered for any auto with a model proper noun that starts with M*AND is worth over $30,000.

If you put criteria in different rows, information technology functions as an OR argument:

criteria-range-or

In the image higher up, we're filtering for any cars that have the model name "Fit,"OR that were made in 2000,OR that are worth less than $50,000.

Combining the AND and OR functionalities is where advanced filters get really absurd.

Here's an example:

criteria-range-and-or

This filter volition render whatever car that was made in 2000AND is worth more than $40,000,OR has a proper name that starts with MAND is worth more than $twoscore,000.

You can combine many different AND and OR statements in this manner.

Yous probably noticed theAction options at the top of the advanced filter dialog. There are two options:Filter the list, in-place; andCopy to another location.

We've been using the filter-in-place option, but if you want to copy the results of your filter to a new location, select the radio button adjacent to the latter option.

You'll also need to tell Excel where to put the copied list. That's what the last field,Re-create to, is for. Type or click to tell Excel where it should put the newly copied list.

copy-to

Excel only lets yous copy a filtered listing to the electric current sheet. If you want it on another sheet, run the filter, cut the filtered list, and paste information technology on the sheet where you'd similar it.

Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of Spreadsheeto

Finally, in that location's theUnique records just checkbox at the bottom. Cheque this if you want to remove duplicates from your copied list.

And don't forget: toclear your avant-garde filter, click theClear button in theSort & Filter department of the Ribbon.

clear-advanced-filter

Filter like an Excel chief

Nosotros know that'due south a lot of data to take in. Only that's because Excel'south filtering capabilities are second-to-none.

It does a lot of the work for yous, just if you're willing to put in the time to learn how to properly utilise filters, yous'll be able to slice and dice your data in any way necessary.

Peculiarly if you get good at using advanced filters. With all the capabilities of AutoFilter, information technology might seem unnecessary, but there may come a 24-hour interval when it will salvage yous hours of extra work. So don't forget about information technology.

As with anything in Excel, filtering takes a while to go the hang of. Only stick with it, and you'll seriously step upwardly your Excel game!

Kasper Langmann, Co-founder of Spreadsheeto