We took a few weeks off. Hey! It's summer! But we're back with more tips to improve your use of Excel. Let's begin with Auto Filters.
Using Auto Filters is my favorite ways to filter and sort data! Let's start with a worksheet that contains a data table I'd like to analyze. First, I have to turn on Auto Filters. To do that, I navigate to the Home tab and select Sort & Filter > Filter, like this:
When filters are turned on, we suddenly find that Excel has added small drop-down arrows at the top of every column:
The options for filtering will be different depending on the properties of each column. Typically, you can filter by color, text, search, or just select items from the check box. To clear the filter, click on 'Clear Filter'.
You can filter on multiple columns or even sort within the filters themselves. On the 'Inv Date' column, I'll select a custom date in order to filter data prior to 2/1/2010, like so:
For the 'Inv Amount' column, I'm selecting a custom number filter, where the amount is greater than or equal to 1000:
And on the 'Vendor' column, I'm simply sorting from A to Z:
Here are my results. I can easily identify the column that is sorted by the up arrow, and the 'Inv Date' and 'Invoice Amount' columns are clearly identified as filtered by the filter icons:
To completely clear a filter, just click that little filter icon and select 'Clear Filter From...'
Have fun making your data more easy to find!
Leave us a comment and let readers know what Excel tips you use on a daily basis.