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You are learning Sorting and Filtering in MS Excel

How to filter data by cell icon sets or conditional formatting?

You can't directly filter data by cell icon sets or conditional formatting itself in Excel. However, there is a workaround using the visual cue of the formatting to achieve a similar result.

Here's how:

1. Apply the filter: Enable the filter on the column containing the icon sets or conditional formatting. Go to the "Data" tab and click "Filter" in the "Data Tools" group. Filter arrows will appear on the header row of each column.
2. Use "Filter by Color": Click the filter arrow on the column with the icons. Within the filter dropdown menu, select "Filter by Color" and then choose "Cell Icon."

Excel will display a miniaturized palette showing the various icons used in the conditional formatting.

3. Select the desired icon(s): Click on the specific icon(s) you want to filter by. Cells with those icons will be displayed, while others will be hidden.

This method allows you to filter based on the visual representation of the icon sets or conditional formatting.

Limitations:

* This approach only works if the icons are visually distinct. If multiple icons have similar colors or shapes, differentiating them can be challenging.
* It's not very efficient for a large number of unique icons.

For more complex filtering based on the underlying logic behind the icon sets or conditional formatting rules, you might need to consider alternative solutions like advanced filtering with formulas or creating helper columns to categorize your data based on the formatting rules.

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