Shortcuts for Filtering Data in Excel (3 Methods with Examples)

Method 1 – Use the Filter Shortcut Option Under the Data Tab to Filter Data

Suppose you have the following dataset.

Steps:

• Select any cell from the dataset.
• Go to the Data Menu.
• Select the option “Filter” from the “Sort & Filter” section in the Data Ribbon.

• There are now filtering drop-down icons in the headers of the dataset.

Method 2 – Filter Excel Data with ‘Sort & Filter’ Option

Steps:

• Go to the Home tab.

• Select the option “Sort & Filter” from the “Editing” section of the Home Ribbon.
• From the available options in the drop-down, select “Filter”.

• There are now filtering drop-down icons in the headers of the dataset.

Method 3 – Use Keyboard Shortcuts to Filter Excel Data

Seven keyboard shortcuts to quickly filter Excel data.

Example 1 – Switching On or Off the Filtering Option in Excel

Steps:

• Select any cell from the dataset.
• Press Ctrl + Shift + L at the same time.
• There are now filtering drop-down icons in the headers of the dataset.

• Press Ctrl + Shift + L again and the filtering drop-down icons disappear from the header section.

Example 2 – Use Keyboard Shortcut to View the Filter Drop-Down Menu

Steps:

• Select any cell from the header.
• Press Alt + Down Arrow.
• The Filter drop-down menu for that header cell pops up.

• Press the Up or Down arrow keys to select from the options.
• Press Enter.

Example 3 – Use Underlined Letters to Filter Excel Data

There are many keyboard shortcuts in Excel. To make them easier to remember, Excel has underlined letters in certain menus and pop-ups. In addition, the up and down arrows and space bar can be used to navigate and select/deselect these options.

Example 4 – Filter Items with the Search Box in Excel

Steps:

• Open the filtering drop-down menu in a dataset.
• Press Alt + Down Arrow + E. This will activate the search box.
• Input text in the search box.
• Data matching that text will show below the search box.

Example 5 – Clear Filter from a Particular Column of a Data Range

Steps:

• Select one of the header cells.
• Press Alt + Down Arrow + C.
• Filtering for that colum has been removed.

Example 6 – Filter Excel Data with a Custom Filter Dialogue Box

Steps:

• Select one of the header cells.
• Press Alt + Down Arrow to view the filtering drop-down menu.
• Click the F and E keys.
• A new dialogue box named “Custom Autofilter” will open.
• Input the desired parameters from the drop-down lists. Double check the proper And/Or option is checked.
• Click OK.

• A table with only the chosen data appears.

Example 7 – Use Keyboard Shortcuts to Filter Blank or Non-Blank Cells

Sometimes a dataset contains Blank cells as well as cells filled with data.

Steps:

• Select a header cell. Press Alt + Down.
• Click the F and E keys respectively to open the custom filter dialogue box.
• Choose equals from the first drop-down value, but leave the second one Blank.
• Click OK.

• Any data with a blank cell in that column will show.

To search for only Non-Blank cells:

Steps:

• Select a header cell. Press Alt + Down.
• Click the F and E keys respectively to open the custom filter dialogue box.
• Choose the drop-down value “not equal to” and leave the second one blank.
• Press OK.
• Only data without a blank cell in that column will show.

Things to Remember

1. To apply filtering in more than one data range in a single worksheet use the Excel Table Feature.
2. Use one filtering option at a time per column. For example, you can’t use a Text filter and a Color filter at the same time.
3. Avoid using different kinds of data in the same column.

Download Practice Workbook

You can download the practice workbook from here.

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