Comparison

Filtering vs Sorting

Filtering changes which items are shown, while sorting changes the order of the same shown items.

Also called Filter vs sortNarrow or order resultsOrganize the list

Visual Example

Filtering

Status: Open

Sorting

Name A-ZDateAlphaMay 1BetaMay 3

Filtering answers “which items should appear?”

Sorting answers “what order should these items appear in?”

They are confused because both help people make sense of a list, but only filtering removes nonmatching items from view.

Use filtering when people need to narrow results by status, category, date, owner, or another criterion.

Use sorting when people need the same results ordered by date, name, price, priority, or another value.