Suggestions on filtering zip codes

[goodvibe]

Greetings!
I have a mailing list in excel with about 2000 addresses and zip codes. The problem is that only 239 of those zip codes pertain to me. To filter out the zip codes I need, I have been sorting by zip code and manually going through all of the ones I need and deleting the rest.

I have tried to filter with a custom list, but it says that I have too many items to make a custom list. Can anyone suggest a formula or another way to easily filter the zip codes. I am going to get a new membership list each month and I am going to need to do this often.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Saagar]

I propose you use pivot table in this way. Let's say you have three fields/columns in your data - Name, E-mail, Zip

- Create a pivot table with the three columns.
- Add Name, E-mail, and Zip as row fields (you wont need column fields or value fields). You can add multiple row fields
- Pivot table adds total rows. You may disable the total rows by right clicking a cell in each column, selecting the "field settings" option, and selecting the "none" radio button in the "subtotals" section.
- The pivot table column headers have a drop down box. In the "Zip" column, you can
filter the zips you need and the pivot table will provide what you want.

This is a one-time setup. From there on, you can update the source data and refresh the pivot table to get the latest list.

You can automate this process with macros/vba code if you feel the pivot table solves your problem.