Microsoft Project 2013: The Missing Manual

Filtering Through Information

Finding project information can be like sifting for gold—lots of project sediment can obscure the scheduling nuggets you’re looking for. In Project, filters screen out information you don’t care about so you can easily see the info you do want. Project comes with several built-in filters to get you started. For example, the Using Resource filter shows tasks that use resources you specify, and the “Tasks with Estimated Durations” filter shows tasks with question marks in their Duration fields, so you can fill in duration values. If built-in filters don’t do what you want, you can copy or edit one of them to create your own. You can also create ad hoc filters with AutoFilter. This section shows you how to work with built-in filters or build your own. (The box on Summarizing a Project discusses a few commands that act like filters.)

Built-in filters can act as a tutorial when you want to create your own. They provide examples of combining several tests in one filter, comparing the value of one field with another, and asking for input. For example, you could create a filter to find critical tasks whose dates are slipping by starting with the built-in Slipping Tasks filter and adding a test on the Critical field. Here are some ideas for helpful filters:

• Critical tasks with overallocated resources. To find tasks that are at risk, filter for tasks whose Critical and Overallocated fields are both equal to Yes.

• Incomplete tasks using a resource. If a resource gets ...