🔍 Still filtering, selecting, copying and pasting data over and over?

Imagine this: You have a master table with thousands of rows (sales, customers, ERP inventories) and need to extract only those for one branch, one salesperson, one month or one customer... and you do it like this every week or month?

Filter → select visible rows → copy → new sheet → paste values → repeat 20, 30 or 50 times. Or worse: trying with database functions or SUBTOTALS that nobody really understands. Hours lost, risk of errors and accumulated frustration.

Keep using that tedious manual process? ❌
Or extract everything in seconds without touching a formula? ✅

In this article I show you the real pain of the manual method and how Data Tools Suite solves it with two powerful apps: Extract Data and Split into Sheets.

📊 The most used manual methods (and their pains)

When you need to extract data based on specific criteria:

🔍 Filter + Copy/Paste

Filter → select visible → copy → new sheet → paste values. Repeat for each criterion. Slow and prone to missing rows.

🔢 Database functions (DSUM, DGET...)

Set data range + criteria + extract/count... complex to set up and maintain.

💡 SUBTOTALS or Pivot Tables

Good for summaries, but they don’t extract data to new sheets or allow easy export by criterion.

🚨 Macros or Power Query

Powerful, but require programming or advanced learning. Not everyone has time or knowledge.

⚡ Automatic solutions with Data Tools Suite

Forget repeating steps: with two suite apps you do it in one click.

1. Extract Data – The fastest for specific criteria

🔴 Manual method

  • Filter by criterion → select visible rows → copy → new sheet → paste values.
  • Repeat for each branch/customer/month → hours and risk of errors.

🟢 With Extract Data

Select the table → define one or multiple criteria → define summary functions (optional) → one click and done!

See Extract Data in detail

Watch demo video: {youtube}0M2-c8QUVXEO{/youtube}

2. Split into Sheets – Automatically divide by any column

🔴 Manual method

  • Filter by column value → copy → new sheet → paste → repeat for each unique value.
  • With 50 branches or 200 customers: endless hours.

🟢 With Split into Sheets

Select the table → choose the key column (branch, customer, month…) → one click and creates a new sheet for each unique value automatically.

See Split into Sheets in detail

⏱️ The real savings: Manual vs. Data Tools Suite

Task (10k row table) Manual Data Tools Suite Savings
Extract by one criterion 10-30 minutes 15-30 seconds 98%
Split by 20-50 unique values 1-3 hours 30 seconds 99%
WEEKLY TOTAL (if done frequently) 4-8 hours 2 minutes Up to $500/month

 

💡 Conclusion: Stop wasting time and automate data extraction

Filtering, copying and pasting (or struggling with database functions and SUBTOTALS) works… but it steals valuable time you could use for real analysis or important decisions.

With **Extract Data** and **Split into Sheets** from Data Tools Suite you have everything ready in seconds: clean, organized data ready for reports or personalized sends with MultiMail.

🎯 Download Data Tools Suite - Free Trial Now

Invest once and recover weekly hours forever.

José Antonio de Diego - Founder Optipe | 25+ years optimizing business Excel
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This article is a translation of the original in Spanish.

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