Excel Tutorials
Filter your data by value, text or number condition in under a minute, then clear it just as fast. This lesson uses the Order Manager workbook from Excel Foundations, free to download below.
Follow along in the same file used in the video. No email required.
Filtering is a built-in Excel tool that temporarily hides any row that doesn't match the criteria you set, so you're only looking at the data that actually matters right now. Nothing gets deleted or changed; filtered rows are just tucked out of view until you clear the filter.
It's the fastest way to answer a specific question buried in a big sheet, like "which orders are still pending" or "what did we order from this one vendor," without building a separate report or writing a formula.
Step-by-step, matching the video above.
Click anywhere inside your data range, or select the header row plus the rows below it. Excel only filters the range it can see, so make sure there are no blank rows splitting your data in two.
Go to the Data tab on the ribbon and click Filter. A small dropdown arrow appears in every column header.
Click the dropdown arrow on any column. You'll see every unique value in that column with a checkbox next to it, uncheck whatever you want hidden and click OK. This is the fastest option when you're filtering a short list, like order status or vendor name.
On a text column, hover over Text Filters in the dropdown to see options like Contains, Begins With, Ends With and Equals. Handy when you're searching for a partial match, like every vendor name containing "Supply."
On a numeric column, hover over Number Filters for conditions like Greater Than, Less Than and Between. For example, filter your quantity column to show only orders above a certain amount.
On a date column, Date Filters lets you filter by Before, After, Between, or by a relative range like This Month or This Year, without typing exact dates.
Repeat any of the steps above on another column and both filters apply together. For example, filter Status for "Pending" and Vendor for one supplier at the same time to narrow results from two directions at once.
If a column has empty cells mixed in, uncheck (Blanks) in its dropdown to hide them. To isolate one specific value, like a single order number, use Text Filters > Equals and type it in directly rather than scrolling a long checkbox list.
Click the dropdown arrow and select Clear Filter, or go to the Data tab and click Clear to remove every filter on the sheet at once. Your data is never deleted, filtering only hides rows.
If you send a filtered sheet to someone else, they may not notice rows are hidden and assume the data is missing. Clear the filter, or add a note, before sharing.
A regular SUM formula totals every row, including ones hidden by a filter. If you want a total that updates with your filter, use SUBTOTAL or AGGREGATE instead.
A merged cell only "belongs" to its first row, so filtering or sorting a range with merged cells often moves or hides data in ways you didn't expect. Unmerge before you filter.
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Select your data range, go to the Data tab and click Filter. Dropdown arrows appear on each column header. Click any arrow to filter by value, text or number condition.
Click the dropdown arrow on the filtered column and select Clear Filter, or go to the Data tab and click Clear to remove all filters at once.
Yes. Filters apply per column and stack together, so you can filter Column A and Column B at the same time to narrow results further.
No. Filtering only hides rows that don't match your criteria, it doesn't delete or change any data. Clearing the filter brings every row back.
Yes. Select your data and press Ctrl+Shift+L to turn Filter on or off, without going through the Data tab.
Yes. Click the dropdown arrow on a column, choose Filter by Color, and pick the fill or font color you want to isolate.
Mostly. Google Sheets has two versions: a regular Filter that changes what everyone viewing the sheet sees, and a Filter View that only changes what you personally see, which Excel doesn't have.
This usually means your data range wasn't fully selected, often because of a blank row or column splitting it. Select the full range, including headers, before turning Filter on.
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