How to filter by date in excel

Tables created in Microsoft Office Excel can be filtered by date. By setting the appropriate filter, the user will be able to see the days he needs, and the array itself will be reduced. This article will discuss how to set up a filter by date in Excel using the tools built into the program.

How to apply a filter by date to a table array

There are a number of standard methods for accomplishing the task, each of which has its own nuances. For a complete understanding of the topic, it is necessary to describe each method separately.

Method 1. Using the “Filter” option

The easiest way to filter tabular data in Excel, which implies the following algorithm of actions:

1. Create a table that needs to be filtered by date. This array must contain specific days of the month.

2. Select the compiled table with the left mouse button.
3. Go to the “Home” tab in the top toolbar of the Excel main menu.
4. Click on the “Filter” button in the options panel that appears. Also in this section there is a “Sort” function, which changes the display order of rows or columns in the source table, sorting them by some parameter.

5. After performing the previous manipulation, a filter will be applied to the table, i.e. small arrows will appear in the names of the array columns, by clicking on which you can open the filtering options. Here you need to click on any arrow.

6. In the context menu that opens, find the “Search area” section and select the month by which the filtering will be performed. Only those months that are in the original table array are displayed here. The user needs to check the box next to the corresponding month and click on “OK” at the bottom of the window. It is possible to select several options at once.

7. Check result. The table will contain only information on the months selected by the user in the filtering window. Accordingly, redundant data will disappear.

Pay attention! In the filter overlay menu, you can filter the data by year.

Method 2. Using the “Filter by date” option

This is a special function that allows you to immediately filter information in a table array by dates. To activate it, you need to follow a few steps:

1. Apply a filter to the original table in the same way.
2. In the filtering window, find the line “Filter by date” and use the left mouse button to click on the arrow located to the right of it.
3. A dropdown menu will open. Here are options for filtering data by date.

4. For example, click on the “Between …” button.
5. The Custom AutoFilter window will open. Here, in the first line, you must specify the start date, and in the second line, the end date.

6. Check result. Only the values ​​between the specified dates will remain in the table.

Method 3: Manual filtering

This method is simple to implement, but takes a lot of time from the user, especially if you have to work with large tables. To manually set the filter, you must:

1. In the original table array, find the dates that the user does not need.
2. Select the found lines with the left mouse button.
3. Press the “Backspace” button from the computer keyboard to delete the selected values.

Additional Information! In Microsoft Office Excel, you can select several rows in a table array at the same time in order to immediately delete them to save user time.

Method 4. Using advanced filter by date

Above, the method of filtering values ​​in a table array based on the “Between…” option was considered. For a full disclosure of the topic, it is necessary to discuss several options for an advanced filter. It is inappropriate to consider all varieties of the filter within the framework of this article. To apply one or another filter by date to the table, you must:

1. Apply a filter to the table through the “Home” tab. How to do this was described above.
2. Expand the drop-down list in the heading of any column in the table and click LMB on the “Filter by date” line.
3. Specify any of the options. For example, click on the line “Today”.

4. The information in the array will be filtered by the specified date. Those. only the data with today’s date will remain in the table. When setting such a filter, Excel will be guided by the date set on the computer.
5. By selecting the “More…” option, the user will have to enter a specific number. After that, the table array will contain dates that are greater than the specified one. All other values ​​will be deleted.

Important! Other advanced filtering options are applied similarly.

How to undo a filter in Excel

If the user accidentally specified a filter by date, then to cancel it, you will need to perform the following steps:

1. Select LMB the plate to which filtering is applied.
2. Go to the “Home” section and click on the “Filter” button. A dropdown menu will open.
3. In the context menu, click on the “Clear” button. After performing this action, the filtering will be canceled and the table array will return to its original form.

Pay attention! You can undo the previous action using the “Ctrl + Z” buttons.

Conclusion

Thus, the filter by date in Microsoft Office Excel allows you to quickly remove unnecessary days of the month from the table. The main filtering methods have been described above. To understand the topic, you need to read them carefully.