---
title: "Filtering entries included in a GravityExport download"
date: 2026-04-23
author: "GravityKit"
link: "https://www.gravitykit.com/docs/gravityexport/gravityexport-lite-filtering/"
---

By default the plugin will download all entries, and that’s probably what 99% of the people using this plugin want. The normal export function of Gravity Forms on the other hand has a filter GUI, so this plugin should at least do the same. But because the plugin revolves around a URL, it works a bit differently.

## Retrieve one entry

You can add `?entry=` to download a single entry for that form.

## Filtering by date range

When you want to limit the results by date, you can use the GUI in the settings page. This is the only part that I’ve duplicated for filtering (so far). So you just select two dates, and press download. You can also add this filtering to the url, by adding **query string parameters**.

Just add `?start_date=YYYY-MM-DD&end_date=YYYY-MM-DD` to the url, and the entries will be filtered between those dates.

## Filtering by field value

- All field filters are added to the url within the `?filter=` querystring parameter.
- A filter is made up of 3 parts. `::` . However, `operator` and `value` are optional.
- When no `operator` and no `value` are provided, we just check if the field is not empty.
- When no `operator` is provided, we assume `=` . So `:` equals: `:=:` .
- More fields are added by adding a semi-colon `;` and adding another filter.

Some examples:

- `?filter=1` makes sure field 1 is not empty.
- `?filter=1:pancake` makes sure field 1 equals `pancake` .
- `?filter=1:contains:cake` make sure field 1 contains at least the value of `cake` .
- `?filter=1:pancake;2:honey` make sure field 1 equals `pancake` and field 2 equals `honey` .

### Multipart fields

Some fields, like Name and Address, have multiple input fields. These are not easily read from the GUI. I usually dig into the source code to figure them out. if you do know them you can target them by adding a dot `.` between the field id, and the sub input. Something like `?filter=2.2:contains:street` should work perfectly.

### Operators

The operators you can use are: `` , `=` , `>=` , `` , `contains` , `is` , `is not` , `in` and `not in` .

For `in` and `not in` you can provide multiple comma-separated values. Like `?filter=1:in:bread,pancake` .

URLs should have escaped values. A `&` will not work because this will break the `filter` query string.

## Disclaimer

The plugin uses the internal API for filtering that Gravity Forms provides. If you feel like you are not getting the correct results, you should try the normal export function and see the results. It’s most likely the same. Therefore any issues regarding this filtering should be made aware to Gravity Forms.