---
title: "Filter"
description: "A filter is one screening rule inside a screener — a metric, a comparison mode, and the values it is tested against. An instrument must pass every filter."
canonical_url: "https://fincanva.com/glossary/filter"
last_updated: "2026-10-06"
md_url: "https://fincanva.com/glossary/filter.md"
---

# Filter

A filter is one screening rule inside a [screener](/glossary/screener) — a metric, a comparison mode, and the value or values it is tested against. Each filter is a condition an [instrument](/glossary/instrument) passes or fails, and because filters combine with AND, an instrument has to pass every filter to become a [match](/glossary/matches).

**Also seen as:** screening rule, screening criterion

You add filters from the **Add a filter** panel and edit each one in place.

## How does Fincanva handle it?

- Filters are ANDed, never ORed, so adding one can only lower the match count or leave it unchanged; removing or loosening one can only raise it.
- Each filter applies to the [asset types](/glossary/asset-type) it is defined for. Switching asset type hides the [universe filters](/glossary/universe-facets) that no longer apply, and switching back restores them.
- A filter's Advanced inputs carry the unit the filter counts in — Months Ago, Reports Ago, Quarters, Days, Bars, or Std Devs. You enter the number; the filter fixes the unit.
- Deleting a filter changes only the screener you are editing; the filter stays in the catalogue for every other screener.

## What is a filter made of?

Three parts, plus an optional fourth. The **metric** is what the filter reads — Market Cap, P/E, a [moving average](/glossary/simple-moving-average-sma). The **comparison mode** is the relation it applies: vs Value, Between, vs Lagged Self, Highest / Lowest, or [vs Aggregate](/glossary/aggregate-comparisons) (see [comparison modes](/glossary/comparison-modes)). The **value** is what the metric is tested against — one number, a range, a lag, or a rank, depending on the mode. Optionally the **Advanced** panel shifts or scales the reading with Lag, Period, and Multiplier (see [lag, period, and multiplier](/glossary/lag-period-and-multiplier)). While you edit, a plain-language restatement appears under "You're saying", so you can read the rule back as a sentence before applying it.

## Where do filters come from?

Filters come from a catalogue Fincanva maintains, grouped by category in the **Add a filter** panel. Today that catalogue holds 118 filters — 84 Fundamental, 20 Technical, and 14 Market & Sector — alongside the Universe filters that decide which instruments are eligible in the first place (see [universe](/glossary/universe)). Two categories are visible but not yet available: Macro is marked "Coming soon", and custom filters are "post-V1". Not every filter supports every comparison mode, and the editor offers only the relations the chosen filter supports.

## What does it look like in practice?

Take `P/E < 15`. The metric is P/E, the comparison mode is **vs Value**, the operator is `<`, and the value is 15 — read back under "You're saying" as "P/E is less than 15". An instrument passes when its latest P/E reading sits below 15. Switch the same filter to **Between** and the single value becomes a low–high pair, `P/E between 10 and 20`. Switch it to **Highest / Lowest** and the value becomes a rank rather than a threshold, keeping only the top or bottom N. The metric never moved — only the relation, and what that relation needs from you.

Fincanva is for education and illustration only. It is not personalised financial advice, and past or simulated results do not predict future ones. [Read the Terms Addendum](https://fincanva.com/terms/addendum#section-3)