How to Add Page Filter in Looker Studio

Building a Looker Studio dashboard often involves creating dedicated pages for different segments of your business, like a page for your Google Ads performance, another for your SEO traffic, and a third for your social media channels. The key to making these dedicated pages work is the page filter. This article will walk you through exactly how to add, manage, and use page-level filters to bring clarity and focus to your reports.

What Exactly is a Page Filter?

In Looker Studio, you can apply filters at three different levels: the chart, the page, and the entire report. A page filter affects every single chart and table on that specific page, making it the perfect tool for creating highly focused views of your data.

Think of it like this:

• A chart-level filter is specific to one visualization. For example, filtering a single pie chart to show only mobile traffic. No other charts are affected.
• A report-level filter applies to every page in your entire report. This is great for broad exclusions, like filtering out internal IP addresses from all your data.
• A page-level filter sits in the middle. It applies a rule across one entire page, but not to any other pages in the report. This allows you to dedicate a page to a specific campaign, channel, or country without affecting your overall dashboard.

For example, you could be building a comprehensive marketing dashboard. With page filters, you can create a structure like this:

• Page 1: Overview (no filters, showing all data)
• Page 2: SEO Performance (a page filter showing only organic traffic)
• Page 3: Paid Ads Deep Dive (a page filter for paid traffic)
• Page 4: UK Customer Demographics (a page filter where "Country" equals "United Kingdom")

By using page filters, you instantly organize your report into easy-to-digest sections, allowing stakeholders to find the information they need without getting lost.

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Add a Page Filter

Let's get straight into the process. Adding a page-level filter is straightforward once you know where to look. We’ll use a common example: creating a page that only shows traffic from the United States.

First, make sure you are in Edit mode in your Looker Studio report.

1. Open Page Settings

Click on the page you want to apply the filter to. With nothing selected on the page canvas, go to the right-hand menu and choose the "Page" tab. Here, you will see an option for "Current page settings." If you have a chart selected, just click anywhere on the blank canvas area to bring this menu up.

2. Navigate to the Filter Section

In the "Current page settings" panel, you'll see a section labeled "Filters." This is where the magic happens. Click the button that says "Add a filter."

3. Create Your New Filter

A "Create filter" panel will appear. This is where you define the rule that will be applied to your page. It looks intimidating at first, but it breaks down into a few simple parts:

• Name: Give your filter a descriptive name. This is incredibly important for staying organized, especially if you plan to reuse it later. Instead of "Filter 1," name it something like "USA Only Traffic" or "Exclude Internal IPs."
• Data Source: Choose the data source this filter will apply to. For a page with charts from a single source (like Google Analytics), this is easy. If your page mixes data sources, you'll need to make sure you select the correct one.
• Condition (Include/Exclude): Decide if you want to Include data that matches your rule or Exclude it. For our example, we want to Include only USA traffic. If we were filtering out internal traffic, we'd choose to Exclude it.
• Dimension/Metric: This is the field your filter will be based on. Click "Select a field" and find the dimension you want, such as "Country," "Device Category," or "Default Channel Grouping." For our example, we’ll select "Country."
• Rule: Here, you define the comparison. Options include "Equals," "Contains," "Starts with," "Regex," "In," etc. Since we want an exact match, we’ll choose "Equals."
• Value: This is the specific value you want to filter for. For our example, type "United States" into the box.

4. Save and Apply the Filter

Once you’re happy with the setup, click the "Save" button at the bottom. Your filter will automatically be applied to the page. You will now see it listed under the "Filters" section in your page settings. Instantly, all charts on that page will update to show data only for visitors from the United States. That’s it!

3 Practical Examples You Can Use Today

Knowing the steps is one thing, but seeing real-world applications is where it really clicks. Here are a few common scenarios where page filters are incredibly useful for marketers and analysts.

1. Creating a Dedicated SEO Performance Page

You want a page in your report that focuses exclusively on organic search traffic, pulling data from Google Analytics and Google Search Console.

• Name: SEO - Organic Traffic Only
• Data Source: Your Google Analytics GA4 Property
• Rule: Include Session default channel group Equals Organic Search

Now, any chart you add to this page—displaying top landing pages, user trends over time, or conversion metrics—will be pre-filtered to show only data from your SEO efforts.

2. Analyzing Only Mobile or Desktop User Behavior

Is your website's primary audience using mobile devices? Create separate pages to analyze mobile and desktop behavior side-by-side.

For your "Mobile Performance" page:

• Name: Device - Mobile Only
• Data Source: Your GA4 Property
• Rule: Include Device category Equals mobile

For your "Desktop Performance" page:

• Name: Device - Desktop Only
• Data Source: Your GA4 Property
• Rule: Include Device category Equals desktop

3. Focusing on a Specific E-commerce Product Line

Imagine you run an online store and want a dedicated dashboard page just for your "T-Shirts" category. You can set up a page filter to look at sales trends, best-selling items, and conversion rates for that category alone.

• Name: E-commerce - T-Shirts Category
• Data Source: Your Shopify or E-commerce Data Source
• Rule: Include Product Category Equals T-Shirts

This isolates the performance of one product line, making it much easier to spot trends and identify top performers without other product data clouding the view.

A Quick Note: Page Filters vs. Viewer Controls

It's easy to get confused between a page filter and a filter control. What’s the difference?

• A page filter is set by you (the report editor). It's a baked-in rule for that page, and the viewer cannot change or remove it. It defines the fundamental scope of the page.
• A filter control is an interactive element (like a dropdown menu or search box) that you add to the report for your viewers to use. It allows them to slice and dice the data you've presented within the boundaries of your page filter.

For instance, on your "SEO Performance" page (which is already filtered for organic traffic), you could add a filter control for "Country." This would allow your viewer to explore organic traffic from specific countries, but they couldn't accidentally see paid or direct traffic on that page.

Managing and Editing Page Filters

Once you’ve set up your filters, managing them is simple. Return to the Page > Current page settings menu. You'll see your active filters listed.

• To edit a filter, hover over it and click the pencil icon.
• To remove a filter from the page, hover over it and click the 'X' icon.
• To create a combination filter, simply click "Add a filter" again. You can apply multiple filters to a single page, like filtering for Organic Search AND Desktop Users. The filters will work together to further narrow the data.

Final Thoughts

Mastering page-level filters is a core skill for anyone serious about creating clear, organized, and powerful dashboards in Looker Studio. They allow you to turn a jumbled report into a structured story, dedicating each page to a specific channel, device, or audience segment, which helps everyone make better, more informed decisions.

While tools like Looker Studio offer incredible flexibility, the setup process can still feel time-consuming, especially when you just need a quick answer. Instead of building reports from scratch and manually managing filters, we built Graphed to automate the process. You can connect your marketing and sales data sources in seconds, and then use simple, plain-English prompts to create entire dashboards or get specific insights. Just ask, "Create a dashboard showing our top organic landing pages and their conversion rates," and we instantly build a live, interactive report for you—no lengthy filter configuration required.