Advanced Filter in Excel

What is Advanced Filter in Excel?

Advanced filter is different from the auto filter in excel, this feature is not like a button which can be used on a single click of the mouse, to use an advanced filter first we have to define a criteria for the auto filter and then click on the Data tab and then in the advanced section for the advanced filter where we will fill our criteria for the data.

How to Use Advanced Filter in Excel? (With Examples)

Let us learn the use of this by some examples.

Example #1

Suppose we have, following data to filter based on different criteria.

We need to check the sales transaction made by ‘Taran’ and ‘Suresh.’ Then, we can use the OR operator, displaying the records satisfying any conditions. To get the results, we can follow the steps to apply these filters in Excel.

• Step 1: To apply an advanced filter, first, we need to select any of the cells in the data range.

• Step 2: then click on Data tab-> Sort & Filter group -> Advanced command

• Step 3: As we click on ‘Advanced,’ a dialog box ‘Advanced Filter’ will open for asking List Range to filter, Criteria Range for defining the criteria, and Extract Range for copying the filtered data (if desired).

• Step 4: For Criteria, we need to copy the column headings on the top row and define the criteria below the field heading. To specify the criteria, we can use the comparison operator, which are as follows:

• Step 5: We want to get all records having the name ‘Suresh’ or ‘Taran.’ The Criteria Range would be like below:

For ‘OR’ conditions where we want to display the records which satisfy any of the condition, then we need to specify the criteria in different rows.

There are two actions in an advanced filter.

• Filter the list in place: This option filters the list at the original place, i.e., on the list range itself. After analyzing, we can remove the filter using the ‘Clear’ command in the ‘Sort & Filter’ group under ‘Data.’

• Copy to another location: This option copies the desired data according to the criteria to the specified range.

We can use any of the options according to our needs, but we will be using the 2^nd option more often.

Now we need to

• Open the ‘Advanced Filter’ dialog box

• Specifying the List Range as $A$5:$D$26, Criteria Range as $A$1:$D$3, and ‘Copy to’ Range as $F$5:$I$26. Click on ‘OK.’

We can see all the records having Name as ‘Suresh’ or ‘Taran’ are filtered out and displayed separately in a different cell range.

Example #2

Now we want to get all the sales transactions of Qtr 1 and South India. Criteria Range is as below:

As we have here ‘AND’ condition, i.e., we want to display the records where both the conditions are met. That is why we have mentioned the criteria below both column headings in the same row.

Now we will click on the ‘Advanced’ command in the ‘Sort & Filter’ group under the ‘Data’ tab.

From the ‘Advanced Filter‘ dialog box, we will choose ‘Copy to another location’ and then define the A5: D26 as List Range, A1: D2 as Criteria Range, and F5: I26 as ‘Copy To’ range.

Now the result is as follows:

Example #3

Now we want to find sales in Qtr 1 or made in North India.

We need to specify both the criteria in different rows and different columns. We have to display the data if any of the conditions are met, and both the conditions are related to different columns.

Steps:

• Need to open the ‘Advanced Filter’ dialog box.

• Specify List Range as $A$5:$D$26

• Specify Criteria Range as $A$1:$D$3

• Specify ‘Copy To’ range as $F$5:$I$26

The result would be as follows:

Example #4

Now we want to find all sales of Rs. 2000-4000 and Rs. 10000-13000.

As we have four conditions as (Condition 1 AND Condition 2) OR (Condition 3 AND Condition 4).

(>=2000        AND <=4000        ) OR (>=10000     AND  <=13000     )

That is why we have mentioned the conditions with “AND” in the same row and Conditions with “OR” in different rows.

Steps:

• To open the ‘Advanced Filter’ dialog box, we will click on ‘Advanced’ in the ‘Sort & Filter’ group under ‘Data.’

• In the ‘Advanced Filter’ dialog box, we will specify
• List Range as $A$5:$D$26

• Criteria Range as $A$1:$D$3

• ‘Copy to’ Range as $F$5:$I$26

• After clicking on ‘OK.’ The result will be:

Example #5

Now we want to find the sales of Qtr 1 by Sunny or that of Qtr 3 by Mukesh.

As we have AND and OR, both types of relations in conditions, that is why we will specify the conditions in the criteria range in different rows (OR) and different columns (AND).

Steps:

• To open the ‘Advanced Filter’ dialog box, we will click on ‘Advanced’ in the ‘Sort & Filter’ group under ‘Data.’

• In the ‘Advanced Filter’ dialog box, we will specify
• List Range as $A$5:$D$26

• Criteria Range as $A$1:$D$3

• ‘Copy to’ Range as $F$5:$I$26

• After clicking on OK, the result would be

Example #6 – Using WILDCARD Characters

We want to find all the sales transactions having a name ending with ‘esh’ or region’s first word ending with ‘st’ and want only to retrieve Name, Sales, and Region.

Here * denotes more than one characters and

‘?’ denotes only one character.

As we want only some columns, not all, then we need to specify the column labels on Copy to Range before implementing the advanced filter.

Now we will call the command.

Steps:

• To open the ‘Advanced Filter’ dialog box, we will click on ‘Advanced’ in the ‘Sort & Filter’ group under ‘Data.’

• In the ‘Advanced Filter’ dialog box, we will specify
• List Range as $A$5:$D$26

• Criteria Range as $A$1:$D$3

• ‘Copy to’ Range as $F$5:$H$26

• After clicking on ‘OK.’ The Result would be:

Example #7

Now we want to filter the top five sales (of a large amount).

The formula cell must evaluate TRUE or FALSE as we want to get the largest five records. That is why we have used the LARGE Excel Function and compared the value with the Sales Amount.

As we can see, the column heading for the formula cell is blank. We can either keep it empty or give the name which does not match with any of the headings of the column in the data range.

Now we will specify the ranges in the ‘Advanced Filter’ dialog box. Steps are:

• To open the ‘Advanced Filter’ dialog box, we will click on ‘Advanced’ in the ‘Sort & Filter’ group under ‘Data.’

• In the ‘Excel Advanced Filter’ dialog box, we will specify
• List Range as $A$5:$D$26

• Criteria Range as $A$1:$E$2

• ‘Copy to’ Range as $F$5:$I$26

• After clicking on OK. The result would be like this:

Things to Remember

• The range to which it needs to be applied must have a unique heading as duplicate headings cause a problem when running an advanced filter.
• There should be at least one blank row between the List Range and Criteria Range.

Recommended Articles

This has been a guide to Advanced Filter in Excel. Here we discuss how to use Advanced Filter in Excel along with excel examples and a downloadable excel template. You may also look at these useful excel tools –

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