Skip to main content

🧭 How to Use Filters Effectively in a Dashboard

Aurélia MICALLEF avatar
Written by Aurélia MICALLEF
Updated over 2 months ago

1. Where to Find Filters and How to Apply Them

  • Open your dashboard in the BI tool.

  • Open the filter panel (usually from the sidebar).

  • Click on a filter category, then select or enter a value.

  • Confirm by clicking Apply Filters to refresh the visuals.

You can apply multiple filters at once. Filters are specific to each dashboard depending on its setup.


2. Global Filters (Dashboard-Level) vs Local Filters (Chart-Level)

  • Global filters: Apply to the entire dashboard or a selected set of charts, depending on the defined scope.

  • Local filters: Defined directly within a specific chart and only affect that chart. Ideal for detailed analyses without impacting the rest of the dashboard.


3. Filter Types & Their Scope

When adding or editing a global filter:

  1. Choose the type: value selector, numeric range, time range, date field, time granularity…

  2. Set the scope: apply to all charts or only selected visuals.


4. Dependent Filters

Filter lists can be hierarchical: selecting a value in one filter automatically narrows the available options in the next.
Example: choosing a time period limits what’s available in related filters.


5. Time-Based Filters

  • Rolling period: e.g. “last 7 days” or “last 3 months”

  • Custom range: selected via calendar

  • Time granularity: choose to aggregate by day, week, month, quarter, etc.


6. Viewing Active Filters

  • A filter icon appears on each chart and indicates how many filters are applied. Hovering over the icon displays which filters are active.


  • A Clear All button is also available to reset the entire dashboard.


✅ Best Practices

Recommended Action

Why?

Open the panel and apply global filters first

To reduce displayed data volume and improve performance

Use multiple filters

To refine analysis across multiple dimensions (e.g., geography + time)

Configure scope carefully

To target only the relevant visuals

Check active filters

To keep context clear and avoid misinterpretation

Reset filters when needed

To return to a clean, unfiltered view

Choose the right time filter

To get the desired level of detail and flexibility


🎯 Summary

  1. Open the filter panel

  2. Select the appropriate filter type (value, time range, numeric range)

  3. Set the scope (entire dashboard or specific charts)

  4. Add dependent filters to guide the exploration

  5. Apply filters and view them across charts

  6. Clear or maintain filters depending on your analysis needs

Did this answer your question?