What you will build

Sort and filter the Personal budget records without separating values that belong to the same row, then clear the filter to recover the full dataset.

Learning objectives

Open the practice workbook

HANDS-ON PRACTICE

Practice in your own copy

Make your own Google Sheets copy with the same data, formulas, formatting, filter and frozen header. The original remains unchanged.

Make a Google Sheets copy (access required) ↗View original

Sign in to Google. If the original is not publicly shared, download the full workbook and import it into Google Sheets, or paste the example data into your own sheet.

The _result workbook shows the complete Personal budget source table before filtering.

Hands-on practice

Step 1: Select A1:E5, including the header row. Selecting the complete five-column table keeps Date, Category, Description, Amount, and Status together when you filter.

A1:E5 is selected as one complete table, including the header row.

Step 2: With A1:E5 selected, choose Data > Create a filter. Confirm that a filter control appears in each header cell.

The Data menu is open with Create a filter visible for the selected A1:E5 range.
Filter controls are visible in every header after creating the filter.

Step 3: Click the filter control in E1 (Status). Under Filter by values, clear the current selection, select only Planned, then click OK. The visible table should contain Transport | Bus pass | 30 | Planned and Housing | Rent | 700 | Planned; the Posted rows are hidden, not deleted.

In the Status filter, only Planned is selected before applying the filter.
After applying Status = Planned, only the Transport and Housing rows remain visible; Posted rows are hidden.

Step 4: Reopen the Status filter, choose Select all, and click OK. Confirm that all four source rows are visible again before you finish.

After selecting all Status values again, all four source rows are visible in the _result workbook.

Checkpoint

DateCategoryDescriptionAmountStatus
2026-09-01IncomeSalary1500Posted
2026-09-02FoodGroceries85Posted
2026-09-03TransportBus pass30Planned
2026-09-05HousingRent700Planned

After clearing the Status filter, A1:E5 must again show all four source transactions exactly as listed here.

Common mistakes and fixes

Correction: return to the exact range and command named in the steps, then compare the live sheet with the Date, Category, Description, Amount, Status source fields.

Independent practice

Change one sample Status temporarily, repeat the Status = Planned filter, confirm the visible rows update, then restore the original Status and clear the filter.

Key takeaways

  • ✓Select the complete A1:E5 table so each transaction stays together as one row.
  • ✓Use Data > Create a filter to add filter controls to the header row.
  • ✓Filter the Status column to Planned to show only the Transport and Housing transactions without deleting Posted rows.
  • ✓Clear the Status filter with Select all so all four source records return.
  • ✓If rows or values look wrong, undo and verify A1:E5 before changing any source data.
QUICK CHECK

Check your understanding

Answer four questions about the practice sheet.

1. What range should you select before creating the filter?
2. Which visible menu path turns on the filter controls?
3. After filtering Status to Planned, which transactions should remain visible?
4. How do you restore all four source rows after the exercise?

Next lesson

Continue in recommended learning order with Share a read-only copy of Personal budget.