# User filters

User filters can be temporarily applied to all tiles on a dashboard, helping you explore data on-the-fly.

Any dashboard viewer can add, modify, and reset these filters without affecting the underlying dashboard setup or other users viewing the same dashboard.

> [!NOTE]
>
> If you need filters to persist across sessions, then ask your dashboard editor to set up dashboard filters or predefined filters.

## Prerequisites

To create user filters, make sure **Allow Filter By Dimension** is enabled in **Application Settings** \> **Dashboard Settings**.

## Adding a user filter

You can add user filters directly from the **Filters** side panel to filter the entire dashboard.

> [!NOTE]
>
> A blue dot appears on the Filters button when filters are active.

1. Open your dashboard in view mode.
2. Click **Filters**.
3. Under **User Filters** click **\+ Add Filter**.
4. Search for a select the criteria you want to filter by. See [Working with filters](<https://help.apteco.com/en/orbit/dashboards/filtering/using-filters/index.md>).
5. Click **Apply**.
6. Modify existing user filters. See [Editing existing filters](<https://help.apteco.com/en/orbit/dashboards/filtering/using-filters/#editing-existing-filters>).
7. Click **Close**.

> [!NOTE]
>
> If your filter doesn't affect a tile, then there may be conflicting [Tile filters](<https://help.apteco.com/en/orbit/dashboards/filtering/tile-filters/index.md>) applied. Tile filters are set by dashboard editors and take precedence over user filters. A blue dot on the tile's option menu indicates an active tile filter.

## Adding user filters from tiles

You can select categories directly on a tile and add them to your user filters, making it easy to build filters as you explore your data.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Some tiles may have category selection disabled by the dashboard editor. These tiles display an orange warning tag stating **This tile is not selectable**.

To filter by categories on a tile:

1. Find the tile you want to filter by.
2. Select one or more categories.
3. In the selection box, expand the option menu.

   > **Tip**
   >
   > You can reposition the selection box using the arrows icon.

   > **Note**
   >
   > If a tile has an underlying tile filter already applied or you're viewing [Drilldowns](<https://help.apteco.com/en/orbit/dashboards/dashboard-drilldown/index.md>) of your data, you can choose to add these to your user filters by clicking Filter to these X, applying it to the whole dashboard.
4. Click **Add X to Filter** to add the categories to the user filters.

The selected categories are added to your user filters.

> [!NOTE]
>
> You can also choose to exclude chart categories from a filter. Excluded selections appear in the filter panel as "Is none of" conditions, grouped together at the end of the filter clause, separate from "Is any of" inclusions. Multiple exclusions are combined with OR logic, ensuring selections are treated as a single "Is not any of" set rather than compounding as separate AND conditions.

## Resetting user filters

You can reset user filters to return the dashboard to its default view.

To reset user filters:

1. Click **Reset All**.
2. Alternatively you can click Reset in the Filters side panel.

All user filters are removed from the dashboard.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Predefined filters remain in the side panel after resetting, but you need to add values again to reapply them.