Filtering data with AutoFilter in Excel - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Concept Flow

    A       B          C  
1 |Name | Department | Salary|
2 |Alice| Sales     | 50000 |
3 |Bob  | HR        | 48000 |
4 |Charlie| Sales   | 52000 |
5 |Diana| IT        | 60000 |
6 |Evan | Sales     | 51000 |

Filter applied on column B (Department) to show only 'Sales'.

We start with a table of employees showing their Name, Department, and Salary. The goal is to filter this table to show only employees in the Sales department using AutoFilter.

Formula

1. Select range A1:C6 2. Click Data > Filter (AutoFilter) 3. Click dropdown arrow in Department column (B) 4. Select only 'Sales' from the filter list 5. Click OK

These steps apply the AutoFilter feature to the data and filter the Department column to show only rows where Department is 'Sales'.

Step-by-Step Trace

Name	Department	Salary
Alice	Sales	50000
Charlie	Sales	52000
Evan	Sales	51000

Rows with Department other than 'Sales' are hidden, so only Sales employees remain visible.

Variable Tracker

Step	Action	Result
1	Apply AutoFilter to A1:C6	Dropdown arrows appear in headers
2	Filter Department column for 'Sales'	Rows 2, 4, 6 remain visible
3	Rows with other Departments	Rows 3 and 5 hidden

Key Moments

What does AutoFilter add to the header cells?

Which rows remain visible after filtering Department for 'Sales'?

Are rows deleted when filtered out by AutoFilter?

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What is the first effect of applying AutoFilter to the data?

A Sorts the data alphabetically

B Deletes rows that don't match filter

C Adds dropdown arrows to header cells for filtering

D Changes all text to uppercase

Key Result

AutoFilter lets you quickly hide rows that don't match criteria in a column by adding dropdown filters to headers.

Transcript

We have a table of employees with their departments and salaries. By applying AutoFilter, dropdown arrows appear in the header cells. Clicking the arrow in the Department column lets us select only 'Sales'. This hides all rows where Department is not 'Sales', showing only Alice, Charlie, and Evan. The rows are hidden, not deleted, so you can clear the filter anytime to see all data again.