Advance AutoFilter to exclude certain values - vba

Question

I want to filter a large list of names in a Sheet in excel. In another sheet I have contained a list of names that I want to filter out and exclude from the larger list. How would I use the advanced filter to do this? I have tried this below but it is not seeming to work. My big list is in K2:K5000 and my criteria is in H2:H3 (The criteria will grow but I kept the list small for testing). Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Sub Filter()
Sheet5.Range("K2:K5000").AdvancedFilter Action:=xlFilterInPlace, _
CriteriaRange:=Sheets("Sheet3").Range("H2:H3"), Unique:=False
End Sub

Answer 1

To exclude the values in H2:H3 from K2:K5000 using advanced filter you can use following approach:
Make sure cell K1 is not empty (enter any header)
Find 2 unused cells (e.g. I1:I2)
Leave I1blank
Enter the following formula in I2
=ISNA(MATCH(K2,$H$2:$H$3,0))
Use the following code to exclude rows
Sheet5.Range("K1:K5000").AdvancedFilter Action:=xlFilterInPlace, _
CriteriaRange:= Sheets("Sheet3").Range ("I1:I2"), Unique:=False

Answer 2

I am not sure off the top of my head how you would use advanced filter to exclude, but you can use formulas in your advanced filter (near the bottom). You can, however, just use a dictionary to store values you want to exclude, then exclude (hide rows, or autofilter on the ones not found in your exclusion list)
Sub Filter()
Dim i as integer
Dim str as string
Dim dict As Object
Set dict = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")
With Worksheets("Sheet3")
For i = 2 To 3
str = CStr(.Range("H" & i).Value)
If Not dict.exists(str) Then
dict.Add str, vbNullString
End If
Next i
End With
With Sheet5
For i = 2 To 5000
str = CStr(.Range("K" & i).Value)
If Len(str) > 0 And dict.exists(str) Then
.Range("K" & i).EntireRow.Hidden = True
Elseif
'alternatively, you can add those that aren't found
'to an array for autofilter
End if
Next i
End With
'If building autofilter array, apply filter here.
End Sub
Using AutoFilter:
Use an array of strings as criteria to filter on with the "Operator:=xlFilterValues" argument of AutoFilter. Build your array however you want, I chose to do it by building a string with a for loop and splitting (quick to write and test, but not ideal for a number of reasons).
Note: AutoFilter is applied to the headers, not data.
With Sheet5
.AutoFilterMode = False
.Range("K1").AutoFilter _
Field:=1, _
Criteria1:=arr, _
Operator:=xlFilterValues
End With

Answer 3

I think you need to understand first how to use the Advance filter.
There is a good tutorial you can find HERE.
Now based on that, let us make an example. Suppose you have below data:
Now, let us say you want to filter out Data1 and Data2.
According, to the link you can use a formula as criteria but:
Note: always place a formula in a new column. Do not use a column label or use a column label that is not in your data set. Create a relative reference to the first cell in the column (B6). The formula must evaluate to TRUE or FALSE.
So in our case, our relative reference is A11(the first cell or item in the field you want filtered). Now we make a formula in B2 since we cannot use A2, it is a Column Label. Enter the formula: =A11<>"Data1".
Above took care of Data1 but we need to filter out Data2 as well.
So we make another formula in C2 which is: =A11<>"Data2"
Once properly set up, you can now apply Advance Filter manually or programmatically. A code similar to yours is found below:
With Sheets("Sheet1")
.Range("A10:A20").AdvancedFilter xlFilterInPlace, .Range("A1:C2")
End With
And Hola! We have successfully filtered out Data1 and Data2.
Result:
It took me a while to get a hang of it as well but thanks to that link above, I manage to pull it of. I have learned something new as well today :-). HTH.
Additional:
I see that you have your criteria on another Sheet so you have to just use that in your formula. So if in our example you have Data1 and Data2 in H2:H3 in Sheet2, your formula in B2 and C2 is: =A11<>Sheet2!H2 and =A11<>Sheet2!H3 respectively.

Answer 4

You don't really even need VBA for this... to achieve the same result:
Put the values into a separate spreadsheet, in the first column.
Create 2 new columns next to the data you want to filter in your original spreadsheet
In the first column next to your data to be filtered, use
=VLOOKUP(A2, [nameOfOtherSpreadSheet.xlsx/xlsm/xls/etc]sheetName!$A:$A,1, FALSE)
Where A2 is the value you're searching for, field 2 is the reference of the range in which you want to search for this value, 1 is the index of the column in which you're searching, and FALSE tells VLOOKUP to only return exact matches.
In the second column next to the data you want to filter, use
=IFERROR(G2, FALSE)
Where G2 is the reference of the function that might return an error, and FALSE is the value you want to return if that function throws an error.
Filter the second column next to the data you want to filter for FALSEs
This should return the original data set without the values you wanted to exclude.
Record a macro to do this it's one step instead of 5 for future uses.