Excel AutoFilter Basics

Use an AutoFilter to hide some of the data in your worksheet. For example, you can focus on sales to a specific customer, or print a list of your largest orders

Create an Excel Table

1. Set up the Excel Table

In Excel 2007, and later versions, you should create an Excel Table from your data, and use its built in filtering features. If you are using an Excel Table, you can skip to the next section, Filter One Column.

Note: For Excel 2003 AutoFilter instructions, please go to Excel 2003 AutoFilter Basics

If your data is not in an Excel Table, follow these steps to prepare your list for an AutoFilter.

1. Add headings: In the row directly above the data, enter a heading for each column. In the example shown here, the data starts in row 2 of the worksheet, and the headings are in row 1.
2. No blank rows or columns: You can leave blank cells in a row or column but make sure that there are no completely blank rows or columns within the database.
3. Separate: The ideal setup is to store your database on a worksheet where there is no other data. If that's not possible, keep the database separated from other data on the worksheet, with at least one blank row at the end of the database, and a blank column at the right. If the database doesn't start in cell A1, ensure that there is a blank row above, and a blank column to the left.

   

2. Turn on Filtering

In Excel 2007 and later, if you're using an Excel Table, it has built-in filtering features. If your data is not in an Excel Table, follow these steps to add an AutoFilter.

1. Select a cell in the database.
2. On the Excel Ribbon, click the Data tab, and then click Filter.

   

A dropdown arrow appears at the right side of each column heading.

Filter One Column

With the Excel Table, or AutoFilter, in place, you can start filtering the individual columns. You can filter on just one column, such as Customer, or two or more columns.

For example, to filter for a specific customer, follow these steps:

1. Click the drop down arrow at the right of the Customer heading
2. In the list of Customers, click Select All, to remove all the check marks
3. Click the check box for the customer that you want to filter for, such as MegaStore.
4. Click OK, to see the filtered list.

In the filtered worksheet, you'll see some changes:

• only the rows for the selected customer are visible -- the other customer rows have been hidden
• the row numbers for the filtered rows are shown in blue font.
• the drop down arrow in the Customer column has changed to a filter symbol, with a small arrow

Filter Two Columns

After you have filtered one column, you can refine the filtered results, by filtering two or more columns.

For example, after you filter for a specific customer, follow these steps to add a product filter:

1. Click the drop down arrow at the right of the Product heading.
   Note: When another column is filtered, you might not see the full list of products -- you'll only see the products for the filtered records.
2. In the list of Products, click Select All, to remove all the check marks
3. Click the check box, or multiple check boxes, for the product(s) that you want to filter for, such as Bananas and Grapes.
4. Click OK, to see the filtered list.

Clear an AutoFilter

After you have applied one or more filters, you can:

• clear a specific filter
• clear all the filters in the Excel Table

To save time, you can

• add the Clear All button to the QAT

Clear a Specific Filter

To clear a specific filter, and leave other filters turned on:

1. Click the drop down arrow in the column heading where you want to clear the filter
2. Click on Clear Filter From [column name]

Clear All Filters

Instead of clearing a specific filter, you can clear all the filters from the Excel Table, in one step:

1. Select a cell in the table.
2. On the Excel Ribbon, click the Data tab, and in the Sort & Filter group, click Clear.
   Note: This will also clear the Sort options that you have applied.

Add Clear All Button to QAT

If you spend lots of time clearing filters, make that task easier - put the Clear All button on your Quick Access Toolbar (QAT). This video shows the steps.

Filter With Search Box

Instead of scrolling through a long list of items, when filtering an Excel table column, use the Search Box feature, to find specific text strings.

Watch this short video to see how to filter a column by using the built-in Search Box. This feature was introduced in Excel 2010. There are written steps below the video.

Use the Search Box

In this example, we'll use the Search Box to look for product names that contain "am".

To use the Search Box when filtering, follow these steps:

1. Click the drop down arrow at the right of the column heading where you want to filter
2. In the Search Box, type one or more characters that you want to filter for -- in the screen shot below, "am" is in the Search Box
3. As you type, the list of product names will automatically filter, to show the matching items
4. When the list shows the items that you want, click OK, or press Enter, to apply the filter on the worksheet
   • OR, click Cancel, or press the Esc key, to close the filter drop down, and return to the worksheet, without applying a filter

Filter for Blank Cells

If there are any blank cells in a column, the drop down list in the heading cell will show one additional item -- (Blanks) -- at the end of the item list.

To show only the rows with blank cells in that column, remove the check marks from the other items in the list.

Filter for Highest and Lowest Values

If a column contains numbers, you can filter to find the highest or lowest numbers that column. In this example, you'll filter for the 5 lowest values in the Total column.

1. Click the drop down arrow in the column heading, click Number Filters, and then click Top 10.
   Note: If fewer than half of the values in the column are numbers, the Number Filters option will change to Text Filters

   

2. In the Top 10 AutoFilter window, select Bottom from the first drop down list.
3. In the second box, type 5, or use the arrows to change the number to 5
4. In the third drop down box, select Items, then click OK.

   

Note: The results are the highest or lowest values for the entire list, not the currently filtered list. If other columns are also filtered, you may see fewer than the specified number of items.

Filter for Conditional Formatting Colour

In addition to filtering for text or numbers, you can filter by the cell fill colour, even if that colour was applied by conditional formatting.

1. Click the arrow in the heading for the column where you applied the conditional formatting
2. In the drop down, click Filter by Color, and select the color that you used filter by conditional format color

   

Filter for Date Range Colour

You can filter a list of dates for a date range, by using the Between date filter, as shown in the next section. With that method, you'll have to type the dates in the filter settings, each time you want to use a different date range.

This video shows how to add Conditional Formatting to the date cells, so the font colour changes slightly, based on the start and end dates entered on the worksheet. Then, you can use the Filter by Color option, to show only the dates in the specified range.

This technique is the second method shown in this video, starting at the 2:00 mark

Filter for a Specific Date Range

If a column contains dates, you can filter to find a specific date or date range, or a dynamic date range. In this example, you'll filter for the orders received in January 2011.

1. Click the drop down arrow in the column heading, click Date Filters, and then click Between.

   

2. In the Custom AutoFilter dialog box, enter the starting date for the date range -- 01-Jan-2011 -- in the first date box
3. Enter the ending date for the date range -- 31-Jan-2011 -- in the second date box, and click OK

   

Filter for a Dynamic Date Range

If a column contains dates, instead of finding a specific date range, you can filter for a dynamic date range, such as Last Week, Next Month, or Tomorrow. In this example, you'll filter for the orders received in January 2011.

1. Click the drop down arrow in the column heading, click Date Filters, and then click Yesterday.

   

2. The filtered table shows only the orders that were received yesterday.

   

Update an AutoFilter

When you open the workbook at a later date, the AutoFilters don't refresh automatically. For example, if you used a dynamic date filter, such as Yesterday, the correct day's results won't show in the filtered table when you open the file the next day. Or, if new data was added to the table, it won't be automatically filtered.

To see the updated filtered results, you can reapply the filter.

1. Select any cell in the filtered table
2. On the Excel Ribbon, click the Data tab, and in the Sort & Filter group, click Reapply.
   

   

This will update any dynamic filters in the table, and will also revise the results for any new or changed data.

You could create a macro to update the filter, and set it to run when the file opens.

Delete Filtered Rows

After you apply a filter, you can delete the filtered rows.

1. Make a backup copy of your file first -- just to be safe.
2. In the filtered table, select the cells in one of the columns
3. On the Ribbon's Home tab, click the arrow under the Delete command
4. Click on Delete Table Rows.

Check the Results

As soon as you delete the rows, clear the filter, and check the results:

1. Click the filter arrow in the column heading, and click the Clear Filter command

   

2. Then, check that all the other rows are still okay, and the colored cells have been deleted
3. If the list doesn't look right, click the Undo button a couple of times, or press Ctrl + Z to undo the deletion.

Create a Custom Filter

Some of the AutoFilter options in the drop down lists end with three dots, such as Begins With...

These filters, as well as the Custom Filter option, open the Custom AutoFilter window. In there, you can enter one or two criteria, to create a customized filter.

To filter for one criterion:

1. From the first dropdown list, select an option, such as "begins with".
2. In the text box, type a value, then Click OK.

In the screen shot below, the Custom Filter will find records where the customer name begins with "M".

To filter for two criteria:

1. From the first dropdown list, select an option, such as "begins with".
2. In the text box, type a value, then Click OK.
3. Select "And" or "Or" as the operator
4. From the first dropdown list, select an option, such as "ends with".
5. In the text box, type a value, then Click OK.

In the screen shot below, the Custom Filter will find records where:

• the customer name begins with "M"
• OR the customer name ends with "Shop".

Get a Sample File

Basic AutoFilter: Click here to download a zipped workbook with the basic examples for Excel AutoFilter techniques. . The zipped file is in xlsx format, and does not contain macros

Date Range: Download the sample file for the AutoFilter for Date Range example. The zipped file is in xlsx format, and does not contain macros

More AutoFilter Tutorials

Excel 2007 AutoFilter Basics

Excel 2003 AutoFilter Basics

Excel AutoFilter Tips

Excel AutoFilter Macros

Filter Right-Click Macros