---
title: Filter without writing queries
---

This guide shows you how to filter tables and plots directly in the user interface, without writing queries. The Deephaven Query Language provides a comprehensive toolbox of methods ranging from simple to complex that allow you to fine-tune and thoughtfully combine your filters, with the advantage of being able to save, re-run, or share those queries. Here, we focus on the shortcuts built directly into the IDE.

Several filter options are available throughout Deephaven's UI menus:

- **Controls** menu:

  - [Input Filters](#input-filters)
  - [Dropdown Filters](#dropdown-filter)
  - [Filter Sets](#filter-sets)
  - [Linker](#linker)

- Column header context menu:

  - [Quick filters](#quick-filters)
  - [Advanced filters](#advanced-filters)

- Table data context menu:

  - [Filter by value](#filter-by-values)

- Table Options menu:
  - [Quick filters](#quick-filters)
  - [Search bar](#search-bar)

We'll discuss each option below as we interact with tables of crypto data.

## Input Filters

Input Filters apply your specified filter to all the tables in your dashboard, and can be opened from the the **Controls** menu:

![The Input Filter](../../assets/how-to/input-filter.gif)

Once you choose a **Filter Column** from the drop-down list, you can enter a value. Once a value is entered, the filter will be immediately applied to your dashboard.

In this example, we filter all the open tables to one exchange:

![A user filters open tables with the `kraken` exchange](../../assets/how-to/input-exchange.gif)

Closing the Input Filter panel removes all the associated filters from your layout.

> [!NOTE]
> Input Filters also apply to Chart Builder plots that are set to **Sync State**.

## Dropdown Filter

The Dropdown Filter control does what it implies - it creates a dropdown list of values that you can use to easily switch among filters.

In the dialog, choose a:

- source column - this populates the list of filter options.
- filter column - all columns in the workspace that match this name will be filtered by the selected value.

<LoopedVideo src='../../assets/how-to/dropdown-filter.mp4' />

The dropdown list expects unique values for the column source. You can create a new table for this purpose in one of two ways:

- apply a [`selectDistinct`](../../reference/table-operations/select/select-distinct.md) in a table's query.
- use **Select Distinct Values** in a table's Options menu.

> [!NOTE]
> Dropdown lists are user friendly for a small number of options. We enforce a max number of 256 option values.

- Sorting and filtering the source table will update the values in the Dropdown Filter.
- To edit your configuration, click the gear icon at the top right.
- Deleting a source column or closing the source table unlinks the Dropdown Filters.

## Linker

The Linker feature in Deephaven enables you to interactively filter the content in one table based on the content selected in another table. The objects must first be "linked" with each other, with one table as the source and one or more as the target. When a cell in the source table is double-clicked, the respective columns in the target table are filtered to that value.

When you select the **Linker** tool from the **Controls** menu, the following instructions will appear in Deephaven:

![The Linker panel](../../assets/how-to/linker1.png)

After you click a column source, drag the arrow cursor to your desired target:

![Drag the arrow cursor from the column source to the target](../../assets/how-to/linker2.png)

Expand the menu for filter options:

![The expanded filter options menu](../../assets/how-to/ui/linker5.png)

Click **Done** to save your changes.

Now that the tables are linked, double-clicking on a row in the source column automatically filters the target table:

![Double-click a row in the source column to filter the target table](../../assets/how-to/linker.gif)

You can also link multiple tables at once, as shown below:

![Multiple tables are linked at once](../../assets/how-to/linker3.png)

After you've linked tables, your selections are saved and will reopen to allow you to edit or clear the links when you access the Linker tool.

## Quick Filters

The Quick Filters features adds a filter row above the header of a table. Type a value in the filter field above any column and it will filter accordingly.

Quick filters can be added in a table's option menu, or by right-clicking a column header:

![Access Quick Filters by right-clicking a column header](../../assets/how-to/quick-filter.gif)

> [!TIP]
> You can also open or close the Quick Filters bar using the keyboard shortcut <kbd>Ctrl+F</kbd> or <kbd>⌘F</kbd>.

Quick Filters support all standard column types, including Vector and Array columns. When filtering Vector or Array columns, the filter searches for matching elements within the arrays.

## Advanced Filters

As the name implies, the **Advanced Filters** feature provides advanced options to filter data in a table. They can be accessed by right-clicking a column header, or by clicking on a column's funnel icon within the [Quick Filters](#quick-filters) bar:

![The Advanced Filters panel](../../assets/how-to/advanced-filters.png)

### Sorting options

The top of the **Advanced Filters** window provides two buttons that sort the entire underlying table based on the column selected. You can sort the table in descending or ascending order by clicking the appropriate button:

![Sorting options at the top right of the Advanced Filters panel](../../assets/how-to/advanced-filter2.png)

### Enter value(s)

The first section of the dialog provides options for filtering the data in the selected column. These options depend on the data type:

![Advanced Filters options](../../assets/how-to/advanced-filters2.gif)

You can filter the table by a secondary value by clicking on the **AND** or **OR** buttons just below the value field.

Selecting either of them will add a new filter set to the dialog window:

![Once one filter is selected, an option to add more filters appears](../../assets/how-to/advanced-filters3.gif)

In the example above, we added a second filter using the **OR** option. The table filters to only those rows of data where the Instrument value contains BTC or ETH.

Click the trash can icon to the right of the filter value to remove it.

### Select value(s)

The lower portion of the **Advanced Filters** dialog enables you to filter the underlying table by selecting specific values. Search for a value in the **Find...** field, or scroll through to select or deselect values:

!["Select values" options in the Advanced Filters panel](../../assets/how-to/advanced-filters4.png)

### Ordering

The upper and lower portions of the **Advanced Filter** work conjunctively - they both filter the same column. However the upper portion of the **Advanced Filter** is processed first. Therefore, if you filter a table using the upper filter criteria, the filtering specified in the lower section will be applied to the table after it has been filtered by the upper portion.

### Removing filters

- Use the **Reset** button to remove all filters.
- Remove one or all filters by using the Column Header context menu:

![Options to remove filters in the Column Header context menu](../../assets/how-to/advanced-filters5.png)

## Filter By Value(s)

Right-clicking a table cell will show the Filter By Value feature:

![The Filter By Value feature](../../assets/how-to/filter-by-value.png)

You can also select multiple values to filter by:

![Filtering by multiple values](../../assets/how-to/filter_by_values.gif)

There are six options to filter the column based on the value of the table cell. After the first filter is applied, the context menu provides option to apply additional filters, or clear the filters.

## Search bar

When the **Search Bar** button is set to On in a table's Options menu, a search bar will be added to that table:

![Toggle the search bar on/off with the Column Header menu](../../assets/how-to/searchbar.png)

By default, all columns will be searched for your term. You can configure cross-column search using the **Settings** dialog at the right of the search bar:

![The search bar's settings dialog](../../assets/how-to/searchbar2.png)

> [!TIP]
> You can also open or close the search bar using the keyboard shortcut <kbd>Ctrl+S</kbd> or <kbd>⌘S</kbd>.

## Filter Sets

Filter Sets capture the current state of all filters applied across the current dashboard (including plots, tables, etc.) into one "set" that can then be reapplied at a later time.

From the **Controls** menu, choose **Filter Sets**. Enter a name for your set and click **Save**. This opens a drop-down list of all available sets:

<LoopedVideo src='../../assets/how-to/filtersets.mp4' />

Select a set name to apply the saved filters.

Click the gear at the top right of the Filter Set Manager to return to the editor. You can update, rename, or delete the highlighted Filter Set. Select **Capture new filter set** to create a new Filter Set.

## Clear all filters

The **Clear All Filters** option in the **Controls** menu removes all filters of any type in the active workspace at once:

![Clear all filters via the Controls menu](../../assets/how-to/clearall.png)

## Advanced Settings

Advanced filter settings can be found in the **Table Options** menu.

![The Advanced Settings options menu](../../assets/how-to/ui/advanced_settings.png)

Two options are available:

- **Control filters clear existing table filters** - Control filters are applied by a control, such as an input filter or dropdown filter. Setting this button to "On" will allow control filters to clear / override any filters previously applied.

- **Inbound filters clear existing table filters** - Inbound filters are applied to a table by the Linker tool. Setting this button to "On" will allow inbound filters to clear / override any filters previously applied.

## Related documentation

- [How to use filter query methods](../use-filters.md)