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How to use QUERY to filter data in Excel and Google Sheets
Topic:QUERY (Google Sheets SQL)Heads up: Excel and Google Sheets do this differently.
Excel
=FILTER(A2:C6,C2:C6>100)Google Sheets
=QUERY(A2:C6,"SELECT A,B,C WHERE C>100",1)Try it with your data
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Step by step
- 1In Google Sheets, enter =QUERY(A2:C6,"SELECT A,B,C WHERE C>100",1) in an empty area. The third argument (1) tells QUERY how many header rows to skip.
- 2Adjust the WHERE condition to match your filter criteria — e.g., WHERE B='Sales' for text.
- 3In Excel 365+, use =FILTER(A2:C6,C2:C6>100) instead. The second argument is the filter condition.
- 4Both functions spill results automatically into adjacent cells.
Tips
- In QUERY, wrap text values in single quotes inside the SQL string: WHERE B='North'. Use double quotes only for the outer string delimiter.
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Frequently asked
Can QUERY filter by multiple conditions?
Yes. Use AND or OR in the WHERE clause: WHERE C>100 AND B='Sales'.
Does Excel have a QUERY equivalent?
Excel 365 has FILTER which handles row filtering. For grouping and aggregation, use PivotTables or Power Query.
More on QUERY (Google Sheets SQL)
See all →How-to
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Use Google Sheets QUERY with GROUP BY and SUM to aggregate data by category — use SUMIF for the Excel equivalent.
Error fixFix QUERY error
QUERY parse error in Google Sheets means the SQL-like query string has a syntax mistake. Find the exact error and fix it here.
How-toHow to use QUERY to group by multiple columns
Use QUERY GROUP BY with multiple columns in Google Sheets to create multi-level summaries. Excel alternative uses SUMIFS with multiple criteria ranges.
How-toHow to use QUERY with WHERE, AND, OR
Filter QUERY results in Google Sheets using WHERE with AND and OR conditions. Excel users can replicate this with FILTER using * for AND and + for OR.
How-toHow to create a running total with QUERY
Build a running total in Google Sheets by combining QUERY for ordering with ARRAYFORMULA and SUMIF. Excel alternative uses a simple SUMIF with a locked anchor row.
How-toHow to combine QUERY with IMPORTRANGE
Combine QUERY and IMPORTRANGE in Google Sheets to filter and aggregate data from another spreadsheet file. There is no Excel equivalent — use Power Query to connect workbooks instead.