How to Filter Multiple Columns in Excel vs. Google Sheets vs. Gigasheet

We’re swimming in an ocean of big data. And while it’s literally impossible to put an exact number on how much data we produce each day, trust me when I tell you, it’s a massive amount.

Analyzing this sheer volume of data is nearly impossible for one person or team. That’s where filters come in.

By applying filters, you can easily manipulate and extract valuable insights from large datasets.

And while some spreadsheet platforms are suited for basic filtering, what if you’re looking to twist and break down your spreadsheet? What if you need to filter multiple columns in Excel? Or what if you’re trying to play around with massive spreadsheets with millions of rows?

Throughout this post, we’ll compare filtering in three spreadsheet platforms: Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets & Gigasheet. The comparison will be based on three criteria:

• The suitability of each platform for basic or advanced filtering.
• The ease of applying filters on each platform.
• The ability of each platform to handle large spreadsheet files.

Before we dive in, let me tell you a bit about the spreadsheet file we’ll be twisting and breaking.

I generated a dummy spreadsheet file comprising an eCommerce store’s inventory management data.

As the header indicates, I generated a dummy spreadsheet file comprising information about an eCommerce store’s inventory management data. The spreadsheet file consists of the following information about the store’s products:

1. Product name
2. Brand
3. Price
4. Currency
5. Availability
6. Number of items in stock
7. #Sold in October 2022
8. #Sold in November 2022
9. #Sold in December 2022
10. Primary category
11. Sub-category

Here’s a screenshot (inside Gigasheet) to help you better understand:

On top of this, let me share the spreadsheet file with you inside Gigasheet – yes, you can share spreadsheet files with just about anybody inside Gigasheet for easier collaboration. You can access the spreadsheet file here.

To test filtering in these platforms, I’ll try to get my hands on:

• Condition I – Products that are out of stock.
• Condition II - Products in electronics category that sold more than 100 quantity in October 2022 and whose value per item stands at more than $200.
• Condition III – Find products with no brand name next to them.

Now, let’s play around with this same file inside Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and Gigasheet.
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Filter Multiple Columns in Microsoft Excel

Don’t we all know how amazing Microsoft Excel is? But when it comes to filtering data, does it live up to the mark?

Let’s dive in.

Condition I - Out of stock products

This is a really really basic filter. All I had to do was apply the “Out of Stock” filter under “Availability.”

Let’s try something more advanced.

Condition II - Products in electronics category that sold more than 100 quantity in October 2022 and whose value per item stands at more than $200.

First, I selected the category as “Electronics.” Then, under “#Sold in October 2022,” I set the condition “Greater than 100.”  Now, under “Price,” I set the condition “Greater than 200.”

Easy peasy!

Condition III – Find products with no brand name next to them.

Let’s say I want to get my hands on product listings with no brand name next to them. So, under “Brand,” I thought of applying the “Is Empty” filter.

There’s no such filter in the first place. But there’s a turnaround.

You can head over to “Home ->Find & Select -> Go to Special” and select “Blanks” to highlight empty cells under specific column groups.

Here’s what I got:

But what if I have more than 100,000 products in my list and I want to send a list of products with no brand names next to them to my VA? You can exclude blank cells in Excel; however, you’ll have to apply formulas and tap into the advanced filtering option – to do just that.

Condition IV – Products with more than 100 quantity sold in October or more than 150 quantity sold in November.

This condition indicates that I’ll have to apply a ‘OR’ filter. And while Excel filtering system allows you to apply an OR filter for the same column group, the same isn’t the case when it comes to applying OR filters across different columns.

The first thing I did – apply the “Greater than 100” filter under “# Sold in October 2022.” Now, Excel immediately removed all entries with less than 100 sales in October. But what if a product had less than 100 sales in October yet more than 150 sales in November?

It may be possible to do that – however, it requires advanced Excel knowledge. And trust me when I tell you, Microsoft Excel has a steep learning curve.

I also used Excel to launch a massive spreadsheet file, BUT…

Microsoft Excel is one of my favorite spreadsheet platforms. But when I tried launching a 100GB spreadsheet file with millions of rows inside it, I was not able to do so.

Why?

Some limitations of Microsoft Excel you must know about are:

1. The maximum row and column limits are 1,048,576 and 16,384 respectively.
2. Spreadsheets are limited by available system resources and memory.

Now, what if your company has asked you to extract insights from a humongous-sized platform? You can’t rely on Excel for that.
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Let’s try Filtering Multiple Columns in Google Sheets

Does Google Sheets live up to the mark? Let’s have a look.

Condition I – Products that are out of stock.

All I had to do was apply the “Out of Stock” filter under “Availability.”

But this one is quite basic – so let’s try our advanced condition.

Condition II - Products in electronics category that sold more than 100 quantity in October 2022 and whose value per item stands at more than $200.

First, I selected the category as “Electronics.” Then, under “#Sold in October 2022,” I set the condition “Greater than 100.”  Now, under “Price,” I set the condition “Greater than 200.”

Condition III – Find products with no brand name next to them.

To find products with no brand name mentioned in their respective “Brand” section, I applied the “Is Empty” condition.

Google Sheets gives its users the ability to filter blank cells under column groups; however, Microsoft Excel doesn’t.

Condition IV – Products with more than 100 quantity sold in October or more than 150 quantity sold in November.

Again – the same problem we faced in Excel. This condition requires me to apply an OR filter across column groups. And while Google Sheets filtering system is almost similar to Excel, you can apply an OR filter for the same column group but not for different column groups.  

I also uploaded a massive spreadsheet to Google Sheets, BUT…

Google Sheets can’t handle massive spreadsheets. The platform has its own limitations like:

1. Google Sheets can process spreadsheet files with only ten million cells – not more.
2. The maximum column limit is 18,278 and the upper limit for rows is 40,000.
3. Spreadsheets are limited by available system resources and memory.

If you try to load a massive spreadsheet, it’ll either not load at all (if the limit exceeds) or take a toll on your browser. It may also cause your computer to slow down.

Finally, let’s try performing the same set of operations inside Gigasheet – our big data cloud spreadsheet platform.
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Filtering Multiple Columns in Gigasheet

Let’s play around with the spreadsheet inside Gigasheet.

Condition I – Products that are out of stock.

To find products out of stock, I applied the following filter:

Results:

Condition II - Products in electronics category that sold more than 100 quantity in October 2022 and whose value per item stands at more than $200.

For this condition, I applied the following layer of filters:

Results –

Gigasheet processed my request in less than three seconds.

Condition III – Find products with no brand name next to them.

To find products with no brand name mentioned in their “Brand” section, I applied the following filter:

Results-

Now, if required, you can simply export this list of products with no brand names inside the spreadsheet using Gigasheet’s export feature. Or you can use Gigasheet’s share feature to share it with your colleagues or anyone using their emails.

Condition IV – Products with more than 100 quantity sold in October or more than 150 quantity sold in November.

For this condition, I applied the following filters:

Results –

As you can see, applying OR condition across different column groups using Gigasheet is super-easy. This may also be possible inside Excel or Google Sheets; however, you’ll have to use craft and apply formulas – which is a headache – if you don’t know much about it in the first place.

I uploaded a massive 140+ GB file inside Gigasheet AND…

Gigasheet is a big data cloud spreadsheet platform – and can handle spreadsheet files with more than 200 GB. Sure, Gigasheet has its limitations too – however, our platform can easily process 200+ GB spreadsheet file easily, making it the go-to option for people who play around with LARGE spreadsheet files.
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Filtering in Excel vs. Google Sheets vs. Gigasheet – What’s the Difference?

I evaluated all three platforms based on the following criteria:

• The suitability of each platform for basic or advanced filtering.
• The ease of applying filters on each platform.
• The ability of each platform to handle large spreadsheet files.

Let’s learn how they stood out.

Conclusion

Full disclosure – we want you to try out Gigasheet; however, we’re not saying Gigasheet is 100% better than Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. There are a few limitations that Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets have that Gigasheet solves. On top of this, Gigasheet makes playing around with spreadsheets feel like a piece of cake.

There are many things you can do inside Excel and Sheets that you can’t inside Gigasheet. This involves things from basic functionalities like editing spreadsheets to something more advanced like adding hyperlinks, comments, images, and more.

However, when it comes to filtering, grouping, data enrichment, validation, and other Gigasheet features, we knock it out of the park.

And we’d love to have you try our platform.

It’s FREE to use.

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