Filter views vs filters in Google Sheets - Business Scenario Comparison

Scenario Mode

👤 Your Role: You are a sales coordinator managing a shared sales report in Google Sheets.

📋 Request: Your manager wants you to show how to use filters and filter views to analyze sales data without disturbing others' work.

📊 Data: You have a sales data table with columns: Date, Salesperson, Region, Product, and Sales Amount.

🎯 Deliverable: Create examples using filters and filter views to show filtered sales data by Region and Salesperson.

Sample Data

Date	Salesperson	Region	Product	Sales Amount
2024-06-01	Alice	East	Widget	500
2024-06-02	Bob	West	Gadget	300
2024-06-03	Charlie	East	Widget	700
2024-06-04	Alice	North	Gizmo	400
2024-06-05	Bob	East	Gadget	600
2024-06-06	Charlie	West	Gizmo	200
2024-06-07	Alice	South	Widget	450
2024-06-08	Bob	North	Gizmo	350
2024-06-09	Charlie	South	Gadget	500
2024-06-10	Alice	East	Gizmo	550

1

Step 1: Apply a filter to the sales data to show only rows where Region is 'East'.

Select the data range including headers. Click Data > Create a filter. Click the filter icon in the Region column header. Uncheck all regions except 'East'.

Expected Result

Only rows with Region 'East' are visible: rows with dates 2024-06-01, 2024-06-03, 2024-06-05, and 2024-06-10.

2

Step 2: Explain that this filter affects the whole sheet and other users will see the filtered view.

No formula needed. Just observe that the filter applies to all users viewing the sheet.

Expected Result

All users see only the filtered rows for Region 'East' until the filter is cleared.

3

Step 3: Create a filter view to show sales only by Salesperson 'Alice' without affecting others.

Click Data > Filter views > Create new filter view. In the Salesperson column filter, select only 'Alice'.

Expected Result

A filter view named 'Filter 1' shows only rows where Salesperson is 'Alice'. Other users see the full data without filters.

4

Step 4: Explain that filter views allow multiple users to filter data differently at the same time without conflicts.

No formula needed. Just note that filter views are personal and do not change the sheet for others.

Expected Result

You can switch between filter views or turn them off without changing the main data view.

5

Step 5: Demonstrate how to save and name filter views for easy access later.

While in a filter view, click the name box at top left and rename it to 'Alice Sales'.

Expected Result

Filter view is saved as 'Alice Sales' and can be selected anytime from Data > Filter views.

Final Result

Sales Data Filtered by Region 'East'
+------------+-------------+--------+---------+--------------+
| Date       | Salesperson | Region | Product | Sales Amount |
+------------+-------------+--------+---------+--------------+
| 2024-06-01 | Alice       | East   | Widget  | 500          |
| 2024-06-03 | Charlie     | East   | Widget  | 700          |
| 2024-06-05 | Bob         | East   | Gadget  | 600          |
| 2024-06-10 | Alice       | East   | Gizmo   | 550          |
+------------+-------------+--------+---------+--------------+

Filter View 'Alice Sales' Showing Only Alice's Sales
+------------+-------------+--------+---------+--------------+
| Date       | Salesperson | Region | Product | Sales Amount |
+------------+-------------+--------+---------+--------------+
| 2024-06-01 | Alice       | East   | Widget  | 500          |
| 2024-06-04 | Alice       | North  | Gizmo   | 400          |
| 2024-06-07 | Alice       | South  | Widget  | 450          |
| 2024-06-10 | Alice       | East   | Gizmo   | 550          |
+------------+-------------+--------+---------+--------------+

Bonus Challenge

Create a filter view that shows sales for the 'West' region and the product 'Gizmo' together.

Show Hint

In the filter view, apply filters on both Region and Product columns by selecting 'West' and 'Gizmo' respectively.