Hello! In this release we bring you a new Excel guide, this time on another of its most used tools, the filters.
What is a filter, and are they so important?
Filters in Excel are one of the most useful and used tools, as it allows us to analyze data quickly. Thanks to filters, we can join or separate data, create a preset order or gather cells according to different criteria, among many other things.
It is essential to know well how to work with Excel filters, because they can make the process completely easier, and they also hide many functions that we have never used before. That is why in this post we will show you step by step how to filter the data in a table or a range, so that you can master Excel to perfection.
You can use the AutoFilter or built-in comparison operators like “greater than” and “top 10” in Excel to show the data you want and hide the rest.
Automatic Excel filters when creating a table
When we create a table, it automatically creates the filter mode in the headers. This is the most used way to apply filters. To create a table, we only must select the matrix we are interested in.
We can also create it by hovering over any cell. To insert the table, just click on the “Insert” tab and click on the “Table” command. When creating the table, we check if it has a header and if it does, we activate the header checkbox in the dialog box.
Keyboard shortcut to create filters in Excel
To create filters in Excel, there is also a quick command that almost nobody uses, but it is amazingly effective. The command: CTRL + Shift + L. Pressing this command will immediately insert the filters in the headers of our columns.
Remarks
All columns are filtered based on the type of data in the cells. That is, if we have cells with text formatting, the filtering options will be, for example: from A to Z. If we have numbers, it will be filtered, for example, from smallest to largest (you can change this, depending on what you need).
After know a little more about it, here it is how to do it:
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Filter a range of data
- Select any cell within the range.
- Then, look for the Funnel icon that usually it is next to the plus feature and choose the Filter option.
- Select the column header arrow Filter arrow.
- Now, choose Text Filters or Number Filters, and then select a comparison.
- Enter the filter criteria that you need and select OK.
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Filter data in a table
The filter controls are automatically added when you put your data in a table. This appears in the table headers.
- Select the column header drop-down arrow (which is the Filter) for the column you want to filter.
- Uncheck the option Select All and select the boxes you want to show.
- The, click OK. And you will see, the column header arro drop-down arrow changes to an Applied Filter icon. Select this icon to change or clear the filter.