After you add data to your Coda doc, you can add filters to your tables and views, so that your team can find exactly what they need. This allows you and your team to reduce noise, stay organized, and stay focused. This article will cover the basics of filtering and introduce you to the main methods of filtering tables in Coda.

What is table filtering?

Filtering is a way to limit the rows that are visible in a given table or view. That way you can see only the rows you need to see and no more. This reduces noise and visual clutter in your doc, makes it easier for people to find exactly what they need, and helps your team stay focused.

Any type of structured data can be filtered in Coda. So whether you’re viewing your data in a table, a timeline, a bar chart, cards view, or any other view type, you can apply filters. You can filter based on any column in the table or view, whether it's hidden or not. You can even filter based on multiple columns at once.

There are many different ways to filter in Coda. You can set up universal or personal filters, static or dynamic filters, visible filter bars or “under the hood” filters. You can use our pre-made filter builder tools, or you can write your own custom filter formulas.

ℹ️ A note about views vs. base tables: When you create a new table, you’re creating what we sometimes call a base table. From there, you can make countless different views of that base table. A view is a mirror of a table you can visualize and customize however you want, including filtering. The data in a base table and its views is connected, so any change to the data in one reflects everywhere else. Learn more about views here.

Coda docs have several flexible options for showing specific data in a table, depending on how much and what data you’d like to display. The options include: the filter builder, filter bar, controls, and table search. Check out the respective sections below to learn more.

Filter builder

If you want to build an “under the hood” filter that affects how everyone views data, use the filter builder. With the filter builder, you can either use our pre-built filter components or you can write your own formulas.

The filter builder lives in your table options, and allows you to set up some “behind the scenes” criteria by which the table data will be automatically filtered. Everyone who views the table will have the same filters applied.

To create a filter via the filter builder, follow these steps:

Hover over the top of your table, and click Options
Select the Filter tab
Click Add filter to get started
From the dropdown, select a column that you want to filter based on.
1. Or you can choose Formula if you want to write your own filter formula. We’ll talk more about the formula option below.
Then you’ll create your criteria. Click on the drop-down under the column name to choose from a list of options, such as contains, is equal to, is blank, etc. Then use the box beneath it to specify some value.
1. For instance if you want to see only tasks that have a due date in the future, you’d set up: Due date → is after → today

Add additional criteria

But what if you want to add additional criteria via the filter builder? No problem! You can create as many filter rules as you’d like. Just hit Add filter again and build another rule via the instructions in steps #4 and #5 above.

When you add additional criteria, you’ll see either AND or OR between each rule. You can toggle between AND and OR depending on how you want your filter to work. If you choose AND between two rules, only table rows that meet both rules will be shown. If you choose OR between two rules, rows that match either rule will be shown.

ℹ️ Note that the order of your criteria does matter. Coda will take into account each criteria piece from top to bottom, placing the most weight on the top criteria. Changing the order of your filter criteria can change the results you see.

Filter with formulas

Use formula filters when you want to build an “under the hood” filter that affects everyone’s view, but you don’t want the structure of the pre-built filter options. The filtering via formula lets you get more complex and customized with your filtering criteria.

To filter tables via formulas, you first follow the steps in the section above to open up the “under the hood” filter builder. But after you click Add filter, you’ll then choose Formula from the list of options. This will open the formula builder, where you can use Coda’s formula language to create whatever filtering rules you have in mind. You can even combine multiple criteria into the one formula, so there’s no need to set up multiple separate formulas.

add table filter via formula builder.gif

If you need a refresher on using the Coda formula language, check out this article. And if you’re looking for a full list of available formulas, head to our Formula Library.

Remove filters

To remove one of these filters from your table, follow these steps:

Hover over the top of your table, and click Options
Select the Filter tab
Hover over the filter rule you wish to remove, and click the trash can icon.

Filter bar

The filter bar is great way to set up dynamic filters that anyone can quickly use to filter data just for themselves. These filters appear directly directly above the table, and can be easily modified by teammates without having to write formulas or go “under the hood.”

For example, if multiple members of the product team are working out of the same table, one person might want to see projects that are marked as high priority and off track, yet another team member might want to view projects marked low priority and on track. The filter bar allows both team members to choose their desired criteria, without impacting each other’s view.

Learn all about the filter bar and how to use it here.

Controls

Yet another way to filter tables and views is via canvas controls. Similar to using the filter bar, you can add these interactive controls above your table for visibility and convenience. When users interact with these controls, the table will filter accordingly. Bonus - since controls can be referenced in formulas, you can even filter multiple views or tables with a single control.

Check out this article for full instructions on filtering via controls.

ℹ️ Both the filter bar and controls are ways of creating dynamic, visible filters. But with the launch of the filter bar, filtering via controls is less common since it requires more steps than using the filter bar. That said, there are still times you may want to use a control filter. For instance, if you want the filter to affect the table for everyone, then you’d need to use a control. And unlike the filter bar, controls are canvas objects that are both customizable and can be referenced in formulas. This opens up a lot of possibilities for creative, dynamic filtering. Learn more about filtering with controls here.

Table search

One final method of table filtering is table search. All tables and views in Coda have built-in text search bars. Unless the search bar has been hidden (via table display options), it will appear in the upper right corner of the table.

Users can type text into this search bar, and the table will automatically filter based on matches (across all visible columns). This filtering will only occur for the user doing the searching; the table will be unaffected for all other users.

You can learn more about table search here.

FAQs

Which filter methods filter for everyone? Which methods filter for only me?

Filters can either be personal (they only affect your view of the table) or collaborative (they affect how everyone in the doc sees the table).

The “under the hood” filters via the filter builder and filter formula are always collaborative - they filter the table for everyone.

The filter bar and table search, on the other hand, are both personal methods of filtering, so they filter the table only for the user.

Controls can be either collaborative or personal, depending on which option you choose for them. Learn more about controls here.

If I’m referencing a table or view in a formula, how does filtering on that table affect things?

If you’re referencing a table or view in a formula somewhere in your doc, you may be wondering how filters on that table affect the results.

For instance, let’s say you have a formula counting the number of rows in a table Count(TableName). If the table actually contains 100 rows, but 50 rows are filtered out from view, will this Count() formula return 50 or 100 rows? The answer depends on whether the table is a base table or a view, as well as what type of filter has been applied.

First, if the table referenced in the formula is a base table (not a view), then filters will not be taken into account in formula results, regardless of the type of filter. So even if only 50 rows are visible in the base table, the formula will still recognize the true row count of 100 rows.

If the table is a view (not a base table):

Personal filters - such as the filter bar, personal controls, and table search - will not be taken into account in formulas. If the table in the above example is only filtered via these types of personal filters, the Count() formula will return the full 100 rows.
Collaborative filters - including collaborative controls and “under the hood” filters built via the filter builder or via formulas - will be taken into account in formulas. If these types of filters are applied to our example table, the Count() formula will return 50 rows instead of 100.