How to use the FILTER function
✓ Verified in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 ✓ Verified in Google Sheets (2026-08-30)Return every row that matches a condition — a live, self-updating subset of your data.
The formula
| App | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Excel (desktop) | =FILTER(A2:B10,C2:C10>100) | FILTER(range to return, condition, [if empty]). Needs Excel 2021+/365; the result spills. |
| Google Sheets | =FILTER(A2:B10,C2:C10>100) | Identical. |
| LibreOffice Calc | =FILTER(A2:B10,C2:C10>100) | Needs LibreOffice 24.8+. |
How it works
FILTER keeps only the rows where the condition is true and spills them into place: the values with B over 100 are apple (150) and cherry (200), so those two are returned. The condition is an array of TRUE/FALSE the same height as the data. For multiple conditions, multiply them for AND (C2:C10>100)*(A2:A10="East") or add them for OR; give a third argument to control what shows when nothing matches (else it returns #CALC!). Because it's live, the result updates as the data changes — wrap it in SORT or UNIQUE to order or de-duplicate the matches. FILTER needs a modern version (Excel 2021+/365, Google Sheets, LibreOffice 24.8+); older ones use AutoFilter or array formulas.
Verified, not just documented
We ran =FILTER(A2:A4,B2:B4>100) in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 (headless, with forced recalculation) and it returned apple, cherry — exactly the expected result. We then ran the same formulas in Google Sheets, executed 2026-08-30: a formula-only workbook goes into Google Drive, which converts it to a Sheet and recalculates every formula with Google’s own engine, and comes back out as .xlsx carrying the values Google computed. It returned apple, cherry for the worked example, the same value LibreOffice produced. Both engines’ numbers on this page are executed results. The Excel formula follows Microsoft’s official documented syntax — we do not run desktop Excel.
Functions used
FILTER — see full Excel, Google Sheets & LibreOffice compatibility for each.
Related recipes
- How to average a range that contains errors
- How to count unique values that match a condition
- How to FILTER by multiple criteria (AND / OR)
- How to find values that appear in both of two lists
- How to calculate a median with a condition (MEDIANIF)