In this simple example, we are going to look at how to create a simple filter in Excel.
A filter, in case you didn’t know, is a way to remove (or filter) out information from what you see in Excel. Let’s say you have a customer database, but you only want to look at customers from Virginia. You can create a filter, then only show customers where their state is Virginia.
How to Filter
From our Ribbon Bar, we will need to be on our Home tab. Toward the right side, you should see the Filter button.
Clicking on the Filter Button will add a small down arrow to each of our column headings. To filter on a column, all you need to do is:
- Click on the down arrow. This will bring up a list of all the values in this column.
- If you click on “Select All”, it will unselect all the values.
- Then click on the box next to each item you want to display. Note: you can select more than one value.
- Click “OK” to display only those rows with those values.
What Happened to the Other Rows
You may notice that some (most) of the other rows disappear. Note, you have NOT deleted them. They are just hidden. If you look to the left, where you have the row numbers, you will notice that the row numbers do are not sequential any more, this is because the other rows are hidden.
How to Get All the Rows Back
Click on the drop down arrow again. Then click on “Select All”, and click “OK”. This will unfilter, by showing you everything.
Quick Tip: Creating a Filter in Microsoft Excel was originally found on Access 2 Learn
