Data thinning with Excel

Here, I’ll show you an easy way to thin out data in Excel without using any special tools.

1. Create a column named “Filter.” If you want to thin the data by taking every 6th item, enter six characters such as a, b, c, d, e, f. You just need as many symbols as the interval you want to use.
2. Select a through f and copy them down to the bottom of your data. The Filter column will then contain repeating data like a, b, c, d, e, f, a, b, c, d, e, f.... To do this using the AutoFill feature, select a–f, move the cursor to the bottom-right corner of the selected rectangle until it becomes a cross, then double-click.
3. Go to “Data” → “Filter” → “AutoFilter” to turn on AutoFilter. Then click the drop-down menu that appears next to the Filter column; you’ll be able to choose from a, b, c, d, e, f.
4. If you want to keep the rows labeled e, select e from the Filter drop-down.
5. The sheet will now display only the rows where the Filter column is e, i.e., data thinned to every 6th row.
6. If you create a chart in this state, it will use only the thinned data. You can also copy and paste this filtered range to another worksheet to create a new sheet containing only the thinned data.