# Text Plume: 9 how-to guides (pasted list, wildcards, bookmarks…) > Filter on a list pasted from Excel, use wildcards, exclude values, search every column at once and keep the typed text in a bookmark with Text Plume. - Language: English - Web page: https://plumevisuals.com/en/tutorials/text-plume-cas-pratiques - Published: 2026-10-20 - Visual: Text Plume, technical reference: https://plumevisuals.com/ai/visuals/text-slicer.md - If an option name in this tutorial differs from the technical reference, the reference is right (it is generated from the visual's code). These recipes start from a Text Plume that is already set up. If that's not the case, begin with [getting started](/en/tutorials/text-plume-prise-en-main): the examples reuse its data (the `Orders` table, the check table). Features marked ★ are premium: they work without a license, with a watermark. ## How do I filter the report on a list of codes pasted from Excel? ★ Someone sends you an Excel workbook with the orders to check, and you want to see only those in the report. 1. Keep a single column in **Fields to search**: `Order`. 2. In **Format › Input**, turn on **Multiple lines (paste a list) ★**. The box becomes a 4-line text area (**Visible lines** setting). 3. In **Format › Search**, set **Matching** to *Is exactly*: each line must be a full number. 4. In Excel, select the cells of the column and copy them (Ctrl + C): for example `FR-1042-2026`, `FR-1052-2026`, `FR-1061-2026` and `FR-9999-2026`. 5. Click in the Text Plume box and paste (Ctrl + V): one value per line. 6. Press **Ctrl + Enter** or click the **Filter** button. Result: the check table keeps the three existing orders. Under the box, the information line reads "3 value(s) found · 4 terms · 1 not found: FR-9999-2026"; the tooltip of that line gives the full list of terms not found. > **Tip:** **Tip**: without turning on **Multiple lines**, you can also paste the column into the one-line box: line breaks become `; `. The search then has several terms, which is also a ★ feature. ## How do I use the * and ? wildcards? ★ Order numbers follow a pattern (`country-number-year`) and you want a family of numbers without typing them one by one. 1. Keep `Order` in **Fields to search**, and **Matching** on *Contains* or *Is exactly*. 2. Check that **Format › Search › Wildcards * and ? ★** is on (the default). 3. Type `CH-*`: the star stands for any characters. The table keeps the Swiss order CH-3005-2026. 4. Type `FR-10?1-2026`: the question mark stands for a single character. The table keeps FR-1051-2026, FR-1061-2026 and FR-1071-2026. Result: a family of numbers in a single term. To search for an actual star or question mark in the text, put the term in quotes: `"5*"` searches for "5*" literally. ## How do I exclude values from the search? ★ You want every café except the harbor one, or every city except Paris. 1. Put `Customer` in **Fields to search**. 2. Check that **Format › Search › Exclude with "-" or "!" (-test, !test) ★** is on (the default). 3. Type `cafe; -harbor`. The first term keeps the customers that contain "café", the second removes those that contain "harbor". 4. To exclude without searching for anything else, put `City` in the well and type only `-paris`. Result: in step 3, Café de Lyon remains; in step 4, every order except the two delivered to Paris. A `!` at the start of the term works like the `-` (`!paris`). ## How do I search the customer and the city at once? ★ A user types a word without knowing whether it's in the customer's name or in the city. 1. Put `Customer` then `City` in **Fields to search**. 2. Click the **All fields** chip under the box. To have no chips at all and always search every column, set **Format › Fields › With several fields** to *Search all fields* instead. 3. Type `paris`. The table keeps Café de Lyon (delivered to Paris) and Parisian Bookshop (Paris in the name and in the city). 4. To require several words spread over the columns, set **Format › Input › Several terms** to *All of them (AND)* and type `cafe; paris`. Result: in step 4, only Café de Lyon remains: "café" is found in the customer and "paris" in the city. The visual keeps the rows where at least one column matches each term; this filter works on the loaded rows (up to 100,000). ## How do I filter only when the user presses Enter? On a large model, each letter typed recalculates the page: it's better to filter once the text is finished. 1. In **Format › Input**, set **Filter** to *With Enter or the button*. 2. Leave **"Filter" button** on. 3. Type `peri`: nothing is sent, "Press Enter to filter" shows under the box and the **Filter** button is highlighted. 4. Press **Enter** or click **Filter**. Result: the report is recalculated only once, when you confirm. If you keep *As you type*, the **Delay after typing (ms)** setting (400 by default) sets the wait after the last letter. ## How do I keep the typed text in a bookmark? You want a "Périgueux customers" button that brings back the ready-made search. A **bookmark** (see the [glossary](/en/tutorials/bien-demarrer-visuels-plume#glossary)) is a snapshot of the page state, slicer filters included. 1. Pick the **City** chip and type `peri`. 2. On the ribbon, select **View › Bookmarks**, then click **Add** in the **Bookmarks** pane. 3. Open the **…** menu of the new bookmark › **Rename**, and name it "Périgueux". 4. In the same menu, check that **Data** is ticked: that's the option that saves the slicer filters. 5. Clear the box with the clear (×) button, then click the "Périgueux" bookmark in the **Bookmarks** pane. Result: the text `peri` comes back exactly as typed in the box, on the **City** chip, and the table keeps the two Périgueux orders. A bookmark created with an empty box clears the box when it's recalled. > **Tip:** **Tip**: for the search to be already typed when the report opens, with no bookmark or button, drop into the **Preselection** field a measure `Preselected Search = "peri"` (★). The visual writes it in the box and applies it; a search recalled by a bookmark takes priority unless **Preselection › Force** is on. ## How do I find a city by typing its postal code? Your readers know the postal code better than the city's spelling. The **Also search in** field searches the typed text in another column, but the filter still applies to the city. 1. With the `Orders` table selected, **Table tools › New column**: ```dax Postal Code = SWITCH ( Orders[City], "Périgueux", "24000", "Nantes", "44000", "Strasbourg", "67000", "Lyon", "69001", "Lille", "59000", "Paris", "75001", BLANK () ) ``` 2. Keep only `City` in **Fields to search**, and drag `Postal Code` into **Also search in**. 3. Type `24` in the box. Result: Périgueux is found, the suggestion also shows the code "24000" and the table keeps the two Périgueux orders. This field is free; to hide the code in the suggestions, turn off **Format › Fields › "Also search in" value in suggestions**. ## How do I find values that end with a text? Order numbers end with a counter and the year, and you're looking for those that end with "1-2026". 1. Put `Order` in **Fields to search**. 2. In **Format › Search**, set **Matching** to *Ends with*. 3. Type `1-2026`. Result: the table keeps FR-1051-2026, FR-1061-2026, FR-1071-2026 and BE-2001-2026. *Ends with* doesn't exist in Power BI filters: the visual sends the list of matching values. *Word start* is the other useful matching: `lyon` finds "Café de Lyon" and "Lyonnais Workshop" with it, but not a name where "lyon" sits in the middle of a word. ## How do I search with a regular expression? ★ For needs that wildcards don't cover: several prefixes, digits within a range. 1. Put `Order` in **Fields to search**. 2. In **Format › Search**, set **Matching** to *Regular expression ★*. 3. Type `^(FR|BE)-10[4-6]`: the numbers that start with FR or BE, followed by 104, 105 or 106. Result: the table keeps FR-1042-2026, FR-1043-2026, FR-1051-2026, FR-1052-2026, FR-1060-2026 and FR-1061-2026. A badly written expression turns the box red and shows "Invalid regular expression": nothing is sent to the report until it's fixed. ## Learn more - [Getting started with Text Plume](/en/tutorials/text-plume-prise-en-main): the data to prepare and a first visual, step by step. - [Text Plume: every field and setting explained](/en/tutorials/text-plume-champs-et-reglages): every field well and every setting. - [Getting started with Plume visuals](/en/tutorials/bien-demarrer-visuels-plume): installation, license, styles and settings shared by all visuals. - The visual's page: [Text Plume](/en/visuals/text-slicer). Have a question? [Support](/en/support).