Filtering Data

Astute Excel: Filtering Data

Presented by David H. Ringstrom, CPA

Users who are unaware of the Filter feature in Excel spend a great deal of time sorting data and staving off information overload. In this session, Excel expert David Ringstrom, CPA, shares a number of techniques you can use to quickly sift through large amounts of data in Excel. He’ll contrast the Table and Filter features, show how to filter data in pivot tables, and share several shortcuts. You’ll see how to remember filter criteria by way of the Custom Views feature and learn about the FILTER function that’s being rolled out in the Office 365 version of Excel.

Topics Covered:

• Simplifying filtering tasks by adding a Clear Filter shortcut to the Quick Access Toolbar

• Removing the Table feature from Excel spreadsheets once it’s no longer needed or simply erasing the alternate row shading

• Understanding the nuance of filtering blank rows within a spreadsheet

• Learning how to control multiple pivot tables and charts instantly with the Slicer feature in Excel 2010 and later

• Creating a pivot table to transform lists of data into on-screen reports

• Using Excel’s Advanced Filter feature to identify unique items within a list without discarding duplicates

• Streamlining Custom Views by adding a drop-down list to Excel’s Quick Access Toolbar

• Utilizing the SUBTOTAL worksheet function to sum, count, or otherwise tally items within a filtered list

• Avoiding the need to retype data or cumbersome formulas by way of Excel’s Text to Columns command

• Managing information overload by creating a Top 10 pivot table

• Learning how the Table feature empowers you to improve the integrity of Excel spreadsheets

• Identify how to utilize the Reapply command

• Recognize what the FILTER function returns if no records are displayed

• Describe Quick Access Toolbar commands which allow you to filter a list based on a cell’s contents with one click

• Recognize the benefit the Table feature offers

• Describe which type of data the Top 10 filer appears

• Identify what the MATCH function returns, if the lookup value is not found within the lookup array

• Recognize which feature allows you to identify a criteria range for specifying data you want to see within a list on a worksheet

• Describe which menu the Custom Views feature appears in Excel

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the types of data that actions such as row deletions or formatting affect while filtering a worksheet

• Recognize valid filtering options in Excel

• Describe the keyboard shortcut that enables you to delete one or more rows or columns that you’ve selected