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Overview

When you run a merge, you often don't want every row in your data source to generate a document. Record filtering lets you select only the rows that matter. For example, you can merge only records flagged for merging, amounts above a threshold, or rows within a certain date range.

Rows that don't match the filter are excluded from the merge, and no document is generated for them.

You can filter records in three ways:

1. Based on conditions — Apply one or more conditions to pull only the records that match specific criteria, such as a status field equal to "Yes," names starting with "A," or amounts greater than 1000.
2. Based on a range — Select records from a particular range, such as rows 1–50, to control how many records are merged without setting conditions.
3. Based on date conditions — Filter records by comparing a date-type field against a reference date or range.

Note: This article covers filtering whole records (which rows become documents). If you instead want to show or hide sections within a single document based on a field value, see How to add condition fields in merge templates.

Steps to filter records

1. Under Select Data Source, click the Filter icon.
   
   
   
   

   
   
2. Choose how you want to filter:
   • Based on conditions — To set up one or more conditions.
   • Between a particular range — To choose records by row range.
     

A. Filter based on conditions

Use conditions to extract only the records that meet defined criteria. You can apply one or more conditional operators each time you run a merge, and you can filter on text, numbers, dates, images, and other data types using the available list of conditions.

To set up a condition:

1. Select the field from your data source that you want to filter on (for example, Need to merge?).
2. Select the operator (for example, is equal to).
3. Enter the value to match (for example, Yes).
4. To narrow the results further, click Add condition and set the AND / OR logic between conditions.
5. Click Filter (or Apply) to run the merge against only the matching records.

Example: Merge only the records you flag

Suppose you only want to generate documents for specific rows in your Zoho Sheet, not the entire sheet.

1. In your data source, add a column such as Need to merge? and enter Yes in that column for every row you want merged. Leave it blank or set another value (for example, No) for the rest.
2. In the filter, set the condition:
   • Field: Need to merge?
   • Operator: is equal to
   • Value: Yes
3. Apply the filter and run the merge.

Result: Only rows containing Yes are merged and produce a document. Rows with any other value, including No, blank, or anything else, are excluded, and no document is generated for them.

Remember

• Value matching is exact. "Yes", "yes", "YES", "Y", and a blank cell are all treated as different values. Decide on one value and use it consistently.
• Watch for trailing spaces. A cell containing "Yes " (with a space) will not match a condition set to "Yes". Clean up stray spaces in your data source.
• Standardize the column at the source. In Zoho Sheet, apply a data-validation dropdown limited to Yes / No so every entry is uniform. This prevents silent misses.
• Checkbox or boolean fields behave differently from text. If your flag column is a checkbox rather than a text field, its stored value may be represented as a boolean (for example, true/false) instead of the word "Yes". Choose the operator and value that match how the field is actually stored.
  

B. Filter based on a record range

Select records from a particular range, such as rows 1–50, when you want to control the number of records being merged without setting conditions.

C. Filter based on date conditions

To filter records using a date-based condition:

1. Make sure the merge field you select is of the date type.
2. Choose the appropriate date field from your data source.
3. Apply a condition from the available list (for example, is after, is before, or is between).

Ensure the date or time format in your condition matches the format used in the selected field so that filtering is accurate.

Additional notes

Filter subform data in a merge

1. Place the cursor inside the Subform Repeating Region, right-click, and choose Apply Filter to Repeat Records.
2. Configure conditions based on subform field values or a range to filter the subform records to merge, then click Filter.

Related articles / videos

1. How to add condition fields in merge templates
2. How to change the date format of the merge field
3. How to filter subform records in merge