Filter information in the Workload Balancer

Last update: Tue Jun 17 2025 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

Topics:
Resource Management

CREATED FOR:

User

As a resource manager, you can use the Workload Balancer to view and manage the workload of your users. For more general information about the Workload Balancer, see the following articles:

IMPORTANT

To efficiently find work items and to focus on the users or items you manage, we strongly recommend that you use filters in the Workload Balancer. This allows you to display the correct information before you start managing your resources’ assignments.

When you navigate away from the Workload Balancer after saving and applying a new filter, the filter is still applied even after you log off and log back on.

This article contains information about filters in the Workload Balancer. For information about filters in Workfront, see Filters overview.

Access requirements

Expand to view access requirements for the functionality in this article.

table 0-row-2 1-row-2 2-row-2 3-row-2 layout-auto html-authored no-header
Adobe Workfront plan	Any
Adobe Workfront license	New: Standard Current: Plan (when using the Workload Balancer in the Resourcing area) Or Work (when using the Workload Balancer of a team or project)
Access level configurations	View or higher access to the following: Resource Management Projects Tasks Issues Filters, Views, and Groupings Edit access to Filters, Views, and Groupings when building or editing filters
Object permissions	View or higher permissions to the projects, tasks, issues Manage permissions to the filters you want to edit or delete

For more detail about the information in this table, see Access requirements in Workfront documentation.

Overview of filters in the Workload Balancer

Consider the following when working with filters in the Workload Balancer:

Depending on where you access the Workload Balancer from, Workfront might already be filtering the information for you. For more information, see the following section in this article: Pre-applied filters in the Workload Balancer.
You can create and apply a filter without saving it, or you can save a filter to reuse at a later time.
When you apply a filter without saving it, you can revert to the original lists by refreshing your page.
You can view filters you created or filters that other users created and shared with you.
When you delete or edit a shared filter, the filter is also deleted or edited for everyone you’ve shared it with.
When you create filters in the Workload Balancer in one area, they aren’t available in other areas.

For example, filters created in the Resourcing area are not available in a project or team’s Workload Balancer.

For information about where to locate the Workload Balancer, see Locate the Workload Balancer.
You can only view items that match the selected filters if they also match the dates in the timeline displayed on the Workload Balancer screen.

Pre-applied filters in the Workload Balancer pre-applied-filters-in-the-workload-balancer

The Workload Balancer displays information in 2 separate areas:

The Unassigned Work area: Work items that aren’t yet assigned to users.
The Assigned Work area: Work items that are assigned to users.

For information about what displays in each of the areas, see Navigate the Workload Balancer.

IMPORTANT

Each area of the Workload Balancer has its own set of filters which work independently from one another. You must configure both filters to indicate what information you want to see in each area.

The Workload Balancer displays users and their work items.
The work items assigned to the users only display when the dates of the items match the time frame displayed on the screen.

Depending on where you access the Workload Balancer from, the Unassigned and Assigned areas are already filtered by certain criteria, as described in the following table:

Workfront area where you access the Workload Balancer

Items that display in the Unassigned Work area by default

Items that display in the Assigned Work area by default

The Resourcing area

No items display here by default. You must customize filters to view work items in this area.

Users who are members of any of your teams and their work items.

A team

Work items that are assigned to the team or the team and a job role.

Users who are members of the selected team and their work items.

A project

Unassigned work items or items assigned to teams or job roles in the selected project display in this area.

Users that are assigned to at least one work item on the selected project and their work items on the project when the This project's work items system default filter is selected.

When the This project's work items system default filter is deselected, the Assigned Work area of a project displays all the work items of the users assigned to at least one item on the selected project.

This filter is deselected by default.

Note: You can enable the Show all users option in the project's Workload Balancer to display all users in the system. For more information, see Navigate the Workload Balancer

Create Workload Balancer filters

The process for creating filters for the Unassigned Work and Assigned Work areas in the Workload Balancer is identical regardless of where you access the Workload Balancer from. For information about locating the Workload Balancer, see Locate the Workload Balancer.

You can create a filter from scratch or edit one of the predefined filters. For information about existing filters that you can edit, see the Edit an existing filter in the Workload Balancer section in this article.

Go to the Workload Balancer.

For information about accessing the Workload Balancer, see Navigate the Workload Balancer.
In the upper-right corner of either the Unassigned Work or the Assigned Work areas, click the Filter icon . The Filters box displays on the right, and the name of the area you are creating the filter for displays in the header.

(Optional and conditional) If you access the Workload Balancer in the Resourcing area, the predefined Default filter might already be applied to the Assigned Work area. You can edit and save a copy of the Default filter.

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The Default filter displays users that belong to any of your teams and their work items. You can edit a copy of this filter.

If you access the Workload Balancer from a project, the This project’s work items filter might already be applied. This displays only work items assigned to users in this project. You can duplicate and save a copy of this filter.

By default, the project’s Workload Balancer displays all work items assigned to all users on the project.

Click New filter.

To create a filter, do the following:

Select a field name in the first drop-down menu or click Browse fields at the bottom of the drop-down to type the name of a field that doesn’t display by default.

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IMPORTANT
When referencing custom fields, you must type the field name and not the field label. The field label displays on a custom form attached to an object. For information about the difference between the label and the name of a custom field, see Create a custom form.

(Conditional) If you clicked Browse fields, type the name of a field in the Search field and select it when it displays in the list.

Search for a field

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You can select a field from the following sections:
Recent selections: the fields you have recently filtered for. Suggested: the fields most commonly used.

Select a modifier from the second drop-down menu. For information about Workfront filter modifiers, see Filters and condition modifiers.

Select or type a value for the field you are filtering for.

note note
NOTE
When you want to display work objects from a specific portfolio, you can apply the following filter: Portfolio ID Equals < PORTFOLIO NAME >.

To exclude projects in a status of On Hold, you must apply the following filter: Project: Status Does not equal On Hold. This prevents work items in On Hold projects from displaying in the Workload Balancer.

(Optional) Click the Delete icon to remove a filter criteria.

(Optional) Click Add filter to add another filter criteria, then repeat the actions from step 4.

Click Apply to apply the results of the filter to the selected Workload Balancer area without saving it. The list of work items updates on the left.

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IMPORTANT
Results display in the Workload Balancer when all the filter statements that you added are simultaneously true.

The filter is preserved until you refresh the page, and the Apply button is replaced with a Save as new button.

Click Save as new to save the filter for future use.

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Clicking Cancel at any time takes you back to the filter building area.

In the Untitled Filter field, enter the new filter name.
(Optional) Select an icon for the new filter from the Icon drop-down menu.
(Optional) Add a filter Description. The description displays under the filter name in the filter list.
Click Save. The saved filter displays in the My filters area of the filter box.

For information about applying saved filters, see the section Delete a saved filter in the Workload Balancer in this article.
(Conditional) Mouse over the Filter icon in the upper-right corner of the Unassigned Work or the Assigned Work areas to display a tooltip with the name or the number of filters that are currently applied.

Duplicate a filter

You can duplicate and edit a filter to create a new one.

Go to the Workload Balancer.

For information about accessing the Workload Balancer, see Navigate the Workload Balancer.
In the upper-right corner of either the Unassigned Work or the Assigned Work areas, click the Filter icon . The Filters box displays on the right, and the name of the area you’re duplicating the filter for displays in the header.
Hover over an existing filter, then click the More menu .

Click Duplicate.

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While editing a filter, you can click the More menu in the lower-left corner of the Edit Filter box, then click Duplicate.

Edit the following information for the duplicated filter:
- Name
- Icon
- Description
- Any of the fields, modifiers, or values.
(Optional) Click Add filter to add more statements to the duplicated filter.
Click Save to save the duplicated filter in the My filters area. The original filter remains unchanged and the duplicated filter is saved as a new filter.

Edit an existing filter in the Workload Balancer edit-an-existing-filter-in-the-workload-balancer

You can edit a saved filter in the Workload Balancer.

TIP

When you edit a filter shared with others, they will also see the changes you make.

Go to the Workload Balancer.

For information about accessing the Workload Balancer, see Navigate the Workload Balancer.
In the upper-right corner of either the Unassigned or Assigned Work areas, click the Filter icon . The filter builder displays on the right.
Mouse over the filter you want to edit, then click the Edit icon .
Do one of the following:
- Modify any of the filter statements.
- Click Add filter to add new filter statements.
- Click the Delete icon to remove existing filter statements.
(Optional) Click Apply. The results update in the Workload Balancer on the left to illustrate the changes you made to the filter.
Click Save. The results update in the Workload Balancer on the left and the filter is updated with the new information you selected.

Delete a saved filter in the Workload Balancer delete-a-saved-filter-in-the-workload-balancer

Consider the following before deleting a filter:

You can’t recover deleted filters.
You can’t delete predefined filters.
You can’t delete an unsaved filter. They’re removed automatically after logging out and logging back in to Workfront.
When you delete a shared filter, it’s also deleted for all users that it’s shared with.
After you delete all saved filters, the Workload Balancer displays according to the original defaults.

NOTE

When you delete a filter shared with others, it will also be deleted for them.

Go to the Workload Balancer.

For information about accessing the Workload Balancer, see Navigate the Workload Balancer.
In the upper-right corner of either the Unassigned Work or Assigned Work areas, click the Filter icon . The Filters box displays on the right.

Mouse over a filter, click the More menu , then click Delete.

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While editing a filter, you can click the More menu in the lower-left corner of the Edit Filter box, then click Delete.

(Optional) Click Cancel to cancel the deletion and return to the list of filters.
Click Delete to confirm the deletion. The filter is deleted for you and all users who have permissions to it.

You can share a filter that you created or that was shared with you by other users.

Consider the following when sharing filters in the Workload Balancer:

You can share filters with active users, teams, roles, and companies or you can make them visible for everyone in your Workfront instance.
Filters you share in the Resourcing area are not visible in the Workload Balancer of a project or a team.
Workload Balancer filters that you share with others are not visible in other areas of Workfront.

To share a filter:

Go to the Workload Balancer.

For information about accessing the Workload Balancer, see Navigate the Workload Balancer.
In the upper-right corner of either the Unassigned Work or Assigned Work areas, click the Filter icon . The Filters box displays on the right.
Hover over a filter, then click the More menu .

Click Share. The Filter sharing box displays.

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While editing a filter, you can click the More menu in the lower-left corner of the Edit Filter box, then click Share.

In the Give access to field, type the names of users, teams, roles, groups, or companies that you want to share the filter with, and then select them when they appear.
(Optional) To edit the filter permissions for an entity, click the right-pointing arrow next to their name, then select either View or Manage.

(Optional) Enable or disable the additional permissions for an entity by doing one of the following:

Click View and disable the Share option. This is enabled by default.
Click Manage and enable either the Share or Delete option.

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Users can’t receive a higher permission than their access level. If they don’t have access to Edit filters in their access level, they can’t receive permissions to manage a filter. Workfront disables the Manage option for these users.

Click Share. The filter is shared with the entities you specified, and the shared filter displays in the Shared with me area of the Filters box.

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