filter not working

Stephen Hindes

i created a filter, that searches a column on "Contains". i put in a number by copying a cell and pasting it in. When i apply it comes up with nothing. I checked the format of the column and it is Text/number. Can anyone have an idea what i am doing wrong.

Paul Newcome

Are you able to provide screenshots for reference/context?

Stephen Hindes

1-shot with a PO #

2-shot of the Filter

3-the results

Production Order # is a text/number field

when i use the "one of" it works fine.

also i tried to copy the cell and typing from scratch and still both results are the same, nothing.

Doug McColl

I am having the same issue with sheets imported from Excel. Some columns' content will not work under filter. I've tried pasting the data in as text, numbers, values, etc. but changing format does not help. What did work is putting a carrot symbol (') in front of the numbers in each cell. Then, it filters just fine. It proved to me it's a real issue within smartsheet. Putting a carrot on the front for every cell and column is not a solution but a good clue. The bug needs fixing….

I submitted a ticket and was given many things to try but none of their suggestions worked. I replied with the carrot symbol clue and am waiting for response. Let me know if you get a solution, I'll do the same. Thanks, Doug

The I submitted a ticket and

Doug McColl

Smartsheet support provide an explanation and solution. "Contains" only works for text. The trick is to convert the column to text. The solution below worked for me. After converting, I used past special/values to replace the primary columns (numbers) with the column converted to text then deleted the conversion column…

I appreciate your patience and cooperation in resolving this issue. I have involved some Senior Resources and was advised of the following that CONTAINS criteria only works for text values, not numeric values. 

Follow the steps for the easiest way to solve this issue: 

1. add a column with the formula =[Primary Column]@row + ""  to convert the number to text, 
2. Apply the filter on that new column.