Entering a Date in a Filter

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 16, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365


When Ulises filters information in a table, Excel allows him to filter by date. However, the list of available dates (obviously pulled from the information in the table) is quite long. This makes it cumbersome to locate and choose from those dates. Ulises wonders if there is a way to enter a date in a filter without using the check boxes.

Yes, there is. When you first click the Filter tool on the Data tab of the ribbon, Excel adds filter drop-down arrows at the top of each column in your data. If you click the down-arrow at the top of your date column, you'll see some filtering options. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. Selecting filtering parameters.

It is the checkboxes at the bottom of this options box that Ulises is referring to. If your data has many, many dates, then drilling down to a specific date can be cumbersome, at best.

A better approach would be to hover the mouse pointer over the Date Filters option in the box. This causes Excel to display a plethora of ways you can filter based on dates. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2. Date filtering options.

Each of these options displays, when chosen, the Custom AutoFilter dialog box. The only difference is what settings are shown in the dialog box; they are set, initially, based on the option you chose. For this reason, I'll often skip to the chase and just choose the Custom Filter option, at the bottom of those offered. (See Figure 3.)

Figure 3. The Custom AutoFilter dialog box.

Using the controls in the Custom AutoFilter dialog box, you can specify exactly what you want to use in your filter. I find it quite handy to use the date picker tools, at the right side of the dialog box, to select the dates I want used in the filter. When you click on OK, then your data is filtered, without the need to use the check boxes you first see.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (12940) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Changing Excel's Starting Date

When keeping track of dates, internally, Excel uses special date serial numbers that are based upon a specific day in the ...

Discover More

Preventing Straggling Heads

Undoubtedly you will want to format your document so that headings stay with the paragraph that follows the heading. ...

Discover More

Files Opening Slowly If Many Files Exist

Managing large numbers of documents in Word can lead to some interesting challenges. One potential challenge is that your ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Skipping Rows when Filling

Using the fill handle is a great way to quickly fill a range of cells with values. Sometimes, however, the way to fill ...

Discover More

Column Formatting Based On a Filter

When working with filtered data, you may want to specially format a column that has a filter applied to it. Here are a ...

Discover More

Limits on Filtering

Filtering your data is a very power capability in Excel. What, however, are the limits on how many rows you can filter? ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is seven minus 4?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.