How To Keep Total When Filtering In Excel
Overview
Filtering in Excel helps you display only the data that meets certain criteria, but keeping a running total while filtering can be complex. This guide provides clear steps to ensure your totals adjust dynamically as you apply or remove filters.
By the end of this tutorial, we will also explore why Sourcetable offers a more straightforward approach for maintaining totals during filtering compared to Excel.
Keeping Totals When Filtering in Excel
To maintain accurate totals when applying filters in Excel, utilize the SUBTOTAL function. This function ensures the summation of only visible cells, disregarding those that are hidden manually or through filters.
Using SUBTOTAL for Visible Cells
Employ the SUBTOTAL function by inserting =SUBTOTAL(109, your_range) into a cell. The '109' argument specifies that you want to sum the visible cells. Replace 'your_range' with the actual range of cells you wish to sum.
Advantages of SUBTOTAL
The SUBTOTAL function is superior when filtering data because it automatically adjusts the total to only include visible cells, providing an accurate sum despite the applied filters.
Issues with SUM in Filtered Data
Avoid using the SUM function alone for filtered data, as it includes both visible and hidden cells in the total. This can lead to incorrect totals when rows are hidden by filters.
Formatting and Errors
Ensure that numbers are not formatted as text, as this can cause the SUM function to malfunction. Additionally, a #Name error may indicate a misspelling in your SUM formula.
Common Use Cases
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Tracking monthly expenses while filtering out non-essential purchases
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Calculating total sales for specific product categories
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Summing up employee hours worked by department
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Monitoring inventory levels of selected items
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Aggregating customer feedback scores for service improvement analysis
Excel vs. Sourcetable: A Comparative Overview
Discover the uniqueness of Sourcetable, a modern spreadsheet solution designed for data consolidation. Unlike traditional tools, Sourcetable aggregates data from various sources, enabling seamless data analysis within a single interface.
Excel, the classic spreadsheet software, is powerful for data manipulation but lacks integrated capabilities for pooling data from multiple sources. Sourcetable fills this gap, offering a centralized data management experience.
Sourcetable's AI copilot distinguishes it from Excel, providing an intuitive chat interface to assist users in formula creation and template generation, thus enhancing productivity and user experience.
While Excel relies on user proficiency for complex tasks, Sourcetable's AI streamlines the process, offering a more accessible platform for users at different levels of technical expertise.
Opt for Sourcetable when in need of a collaborative, data-centric spreadsheet tool with AI-enabled assistance. When traditional spreadsheet functionalities suffice, Excel may be the go-to option.
