Filtering hides rows that do not match your criteria without deleting them. It is one of the quickest ways to focus on a subset of a large spreadsheet.
Does this affect you?
Use this for Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel 2021, and Excel 2019 on Windows or Mac when you need to see only certain statuses, names, regions, dates, numbers, colors, or combinations of those criteria.
Turn on filters and use dropdown arrows
This is the standard filtering workflow.
- Click any cell inside the data.
- Open the Data tab and click Filter, or press Ctrl+Shift+L on Windows or Cmd+Shift+F on Mac.
- Use the dropdown arrow in a column header.
- Uncheck Select All.
- Check only the values you want to show.
- Click OK.
Filtered row numbers turn blue. To clear one column, open its dropdown and choose Clear Filter From that column. To clear all filters, use Data > Clear or turn Filter off.
Filter by number or date conditions
Use conditions for ranges and time periods.
- Click the dropdown on a number or date column.
- Choose Number Filters or Date Filters.
- Pick a condition such as Greater Than, Between, Last Month, or This Quarter.
- Enter the needed values and click OK.
Filter by more than one column
Excel combines column filters with AND logic.
- Filter the first column, such as Region equals West.
- Filter the second column, such as Status equals Open.
- Continue adding filters as needed.
A row remains visible only when it matches every active filter.
More control
Filter by color
If cells use fill colors, font colors, or icon sets, open the column dropdown and choose Filter by Color.
Use Advanced Filter for OR logic
Dropdown filters are best for AND logic. For Region is West OR Status is Open, use Data > Advanced with a small criteria range containing the headers and OR conditions on separate rows.
Turn the range into a Table
Ctrl+T on Windows or Cmd+T on Mac creates an Excel Table with built-in filters, consistent formatting, and formulas that expand with the data.
Use slicers for dashboards
With a Table or PivotTable, Insert > Slicer creates clickable filter buttons that are easier for other users than dropdown menus.
Check visible row count
After filtering, the status bar often shows a count such as 142 of 1,000 records found.
Sources
- Microsoft Support – Filter data in a range or table (2025)
- Microsoft Support – Filter by using advanced criteria (2025)
- Microsoft Support – Use slicers to filter data (2025)