How to add and use filters in Google Sheets
When you analyze your tables in Google Sheets, very often you need only a part of the information, while the table may contain dozens of various datasets. What's more, a bunch of various values may simply interfere.
Sure, you can always duplicate the table and delete those temporarily unwanted values. But isn't it a waste of time?
That is when Google Sheets filters lend a helping hand.
So, what is a "filter"? It's one of many Google Sheets options that lets you hide a part of data that you don't need at the moment. This way you don't need to delete the data. You simply hide it temporarily and can display it back any time.
Besides, this enables you to sort the data. Isn't that a pleasant perk? 😊
How to filter your data in Google Sheets?
To filter your table, you need to select the range of interest manually.
But something tells me you have loads of data. You wouldn't filter it otherwise, wouldn't you?
So, to do the job faster, I advise you to select entire columns. I explained how to do that in one of my previous articles.
If you want to filter the entire table, just click its any cell and go to Data > Filter right away:
Or simply use a corresponding button on the Google Sheets toolbar:
So, the filter is there. Each column header contains kind of an upside-down triangle icon meaning that the filter is active.
Now, let's try and adjust it.
Filter by values in Google Sheets
Today we'll cover the most basic filter option - filter by value. Decide by which column you'd like to filter first and click the triangle icon next to that column header:
Uncheck all the values you want to hide temporarily and click OK.
You'll notice that some of the data has disappeared from the screen right away. Don't worry, the entries weren't deleted. They are there, in your table, you just don't see them because of the Google Sheets filter.
You can sort the remained values either A to Z or Z to A:
If necessary, you can always set additional filters. I'll do that using the Product column, to see the information about Dark Chocolate only:
As a result, both filters are applied to the whole table and there are even fewer entries than before:
The rows we see now meet our two requirements.
So, filtering the table by values is not rocket science. However, this method is enough if you have a relatively small table with a few parameters that you want to display.
Will it be enough if the list of values contains 100+ entries? Well, that's a story for another day.
Next time you'll learn how to apply filters by conditions in Google Sheets and share different filtering results with different people within one document.
6 Responses to "How to add and use filters in Google Sheets"
Hello,
I have to send my printer a bunch of promo codes, 10,000 to be exact. I'm trying to send him a file from Google Sheets. So the first number would be 4017 1501 100 00001, the 2nd number would all be the same except the last or 00002, and so on to 4017 1501 100 10000. Can this be done?
Thanks so much,
Kevin
Using the formula:
=ArrayFormula($D$2&""&TEXT(ROW(A1:A10000),"00000"))
- Where $D$2 is the constant number 4017 1501 100
- Row (A1:A10000) creates 10,000 numbers in sequence (1 - 10,000)
- The text function (that wraps the row function) creates leading zeros's thus 1 is displayed as 00001
- The Array function (Entering Ctrl+Shift+Enter) allows you to create 1 formula and apply it for the entire range (10,000 values in this case)
Look through the shared Google Sheets link for more info: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19Wx1plSbARg8ZoFeeEn11Zls9nA3odRMFi9aHVylRns/edit?usp=sharing
I am unable to get this simple task to work and was hoping you might be able to shed some light.
Google Help "Filter your data":
Search: Search for data points by typing in the search box. For example, typing "??" will shorten your list to just the cells that contain "??".
Hi Dan,
To see only values that contain "??", first, pick the "Clear" option to unselect all values from a filter search. Then enter ?? into the filter search field and make sure the value is checked.
Hope this makes at least a bit clear how to filter the values.
I am trying to filter out some data but only if the 2 columns passed a certain condition. Ex I wanted to eliminate all the zero in column A if column B is also zero. If its only column A that's zero or column B then I dont want it to be filtered out. Can you help me solve this problem? Please! I am trying the custom formula in the filters but i just dont know what formula to use. Please help!
Marilou,
The custom formula that helped me with this task is:
=OR(A:A<>0,B:B<>0)
Please refer to this article to filter by conditions correctly.