How to Filter Data in Excel
If you want to filter data in an Excel spreadsheet, here’s how to do it.
How Filtering Works
Best Practices for Filtering
Save yourself some hassle by following best-practice guidelines for working with filtered data:
Unless there’s a good reason for it, don’t save a shared spreadsheet with filters active. Other users may not notice that the file is filtered.Although you can filter on several columns simultaneously, these filters are additive, not exclusive. In other words, filtering a contact list to show everyone in the State of California who are older than age 60 will yield everyone who’s over 60 in California. Such a filter will not show you the all of 60-year-olds or all of the Californians in your spreadsheet.Text filters only work as well as the underlying data allows. Inconsistent data leads to misleading or incorrect filtered results. For example, filtering for people who live in Illinois will not catch records for people who live in “IL” or in misspelled “Ilinois.”
