Filters let you slice the data displayed in your Datarails dashboards and Excel workbooks on the fly, without editing your underlying report logic. A single filter can span multiple source tables (e.g., Financials and Headcount), so one selection updates your entire report consistently.

Overview

Filters work the same way whether you are using a Dashboard or the Excel Add-In. The key concepts are identical across both:

• Cross table and global filter definitions - A filter that applies to all Datarails objects in the report (tables, DR formulas, dynamic ranges, report builders, etc.). When multiple tables are connected to the same filter, by mapping equivalent fields across them (e.g., Region in Financials = GEO Location in Headcount), one selection filters all connected tables at once.
  Tables that were not linked to the filter during setup will not be affected.
• Filter Library - A curated list of pre-built filters suggested by the system when it detects that one of the main tables, Financials, Headcount or Sales, is connected to the report.
• Active / Inactive - A filter is active when one or more specific values are selected. It is inactive (set to All) when no values are selected, but the filter still exists in the report and is ready to use.

Filters in Dashboards

Accessing Filters

Open your dashboard and click New in the top bar. You will see two options:

• Add Global Filters: add a new filter to the dashboard.
• Manage Global Filters (under Edit): view and manage all existing filters.

If no filters have been created yet, the welcome screen will show a Create Filter button that takes you directly to the Filters Library.

Creating a Filter from the Library

The Filters Library appears automatically when at least one main table (Financials, Headcount, or Sales) is connected to the dashboard.

1. Browse the library. Fields that exist in both connected tables are suggested first, since they can filter data from both tables at once.
2. Select the field you want to use as your filter.
3. If the field exists in only one table, the system will prompt you to manually map an equivalent field from the other table. Select the matching field and proceed.
4. Click Add. The filter is immediately available on the dashboard.

Creating a Filter Manually

Use the manual flow when you want to build a cross-table filter that is not already in the library.

1. Click New > Create Manually.
2. Select the first table (e.g., Financials) and choose the field (e.g., Location).
3. The system checks for other connected tables and suggests them. Select the equivalent field from that table (e.g., GEO Location in Headcount).
4. Click Create Filter. The filter now spans both tables.

Using a Filter

Once added, filters appear as controls at the top of the dashboard. Click a filter control to open the value picker, select one or more values, and confirm. The dashboard refreshes instantly. An indicator icon shows how many filters are currently active and which values are selected.
To clear a filter, open its value picker and select All, or use the clear option on the filter indicator.

Filters in the Excel Add-In

What the Filter Affects

A filter in the Excel Add-In applies to all Datarails data objects in the workbook: DR formulas, data tables, dynamic ranges, and report builders all respond to the filter selection.

Accessing Filters

Click Filters in the top bar of the task pane. If no filters exist yet, the panel will be empty and ready for you to create one.

Each filter shows its selected values beside its name, or All when nothing is selected. Where a filter has more values than fit, the extra count is shown after them.

Creating a Filter from the Library

1. When you open the Filters panel, the system detects which tables are connected and suggests pre-built filters from the library.
2. Click a suggested filter or click a specific table name and pick a field manually.
3. If the selected field exists in another connected table, the system prompts you to map the equivalent field. Select it and confirm.
4. Optionally, click Copy filter controls to clipboard. This copies two cells you can paste anywhere in the workbook, so you can access the filter without returning to the task pane each time.
5. Click Add. The filter is added to the task pane and, if you pasted the controls, is also accessible directly from the sheet.

The tables the system detects grow as your workbook does. Functions are added to your file automatically and each one brings its source table with it, so the list can include tables you have never worked with in this workbook. See Formulas.

Creating a Filter Manually

1. In the Filters panel, click New.
2. Select the first table and field (e.g., Region from Financials).
3. The system automatically detects other connected tables. Select the equivalent field from each additional table.
4. Copy the filter controls to the clipboard if needed, then click Add Filter.

Using a Filter

Click the filter in the task pane or click the pasted filter control in the spreadsheet. Select the values you want and click OK. The workbook refreshes and all Datarails objects update accordingly.
You can select more than one value, and a filter can either keep only the values you pick or leave them out.

Note: When a filter is active (specific values selected), the filter icon is fully colored. When set to All, the icon appears empty: the filter still exists in the workbook but is not currently filtering any data. The number beside Filters counts the active filters, not how many exist.

Clearing a Filter

To clear one filter, hover over it and click the eraser. To clear them all at once, click the eraser at the top of the Filters panel.
Clearing returns a filter to All. It does not delete it.

Managing Filters

Both Dashboards and the Excel Add-In have a central place to manage all filters in the report. In the add-in, click Manage filters at the bottom of the Filters panel.

The list shows each filter's name, the tables it affects, who created it and when it was last modified, useful for teams working on the same report. Hover over a filter for its actions: copy filter controls to clipboard, edit and delete.

The Affected tables column is the quickest way to check whether a filter reaches the table you expect.

Editing a Filter

Open the Filters panel (Dashboard: Edit > Manage Global Filters; Excel: click Manage filters) and click Edit next to the filter you want to change. From the edit view you can add or remove connected tables, and change which field from each table is mapped to the filter. Click Save when done.

Deleting a Filter

In the Filters management panel, click Delete next to the filter. It is removed from the report and will no longer appear in the task pane or on the sheet. Other filters in the workbook are not affected.

Re-adding Filter Controls (Excel only)

If you need to paste the filter controls into a new location in your workbook, open Manage filters, find the filter, and click Copy filter controls to clipboard. Paste the two cells wherever you like and format them to match your workbook style.

Table Filters

Older workbooks can contain table filters, which are scoped to a single table rather than mapped across several. They appear under their own Table filters heading, below your other filters, and continue to work.

New table filters are not available, in this add-in or in the legacy one. Use a cross table filter instead.

When Filters Cannot Be Edited

In a budget file the filters are fixed, and the add-in tells you so: filters on a budget file can only be added or removed in the budget builder, or through a split action. Everything else about the file works normally.

Working across platforms

Filters behave identically on Windows desktop, Mac desktop and Excel on the web.

Updated September 15, 2026 07:19