---
title: Filter Picklist
slug: segment/filter-picklist
docTags: 
createdAt: 2026-01-16T18:17:08.848Z
---

You can create a filter dropdown picklist with the defined values instead of a free input field.

## How it works

Filter picklists replace using free input filters in text fields, which requires some understanding of the data in the field you’re filtering on. For example, if you want to filter out delivery countries or state codes, you can set up see the name of the state instead of inputting the state code.

### Constrains

- Only a single Picklist can be created per field.
- Picklists can show up to 10000 values per field.
- Picklists will not be applicable for fields with either Boolean or Date data type.
- Picklists can be used in *Equals*, *Contains*, *Does not contain*, *In*, and *Not in* Filter types.

## Setup

### 1. Create picklist

:::hint{type="info"}
You need to be an admin to configure this feature.
:::

1. In the Admin panel, go to the **Picklists** tab and click **New Picklist**.

::Image[]{src="https://support.deselect.com/hc/article_attachments/29406920959505" size="60" width="2788" height="1164" darkWidth="2788" darkHeight="1164" position="center" showCaption="false"}

2. Provide a name for the picklist. For example, *Delivery Country*.
3. In the **Data Extension **dropdown, select the Data Extension that contains the field for which you want to create a Picklist. For example, for creating a picklist of delivery countries, choose *DESelect\_DEMO\_Orders*.
4. Click the **Retrieve** button. Once values have been retrieved, switch on the **Picklist toggle**. Optionally, setting an auto-refresh setting is also possible just by clicking the **Auto-Refresh **button. An Unaric Segment administrator can set a frequency when the Picklist needs to be automatically refreshed.

::Image[]{src="https://support.deselect.com/hc/article_attachments/29406952095633" size="62" width="2794" height="1170" darkWidth="2794" darkHeight="1170" position="center" showCaption="false"}

5. Click **Save **to finish. Upon choosing the Data Extension, the fields for that Data Extension become available in the Field dropdown. Pick your field there; following the example, you would pick *Delivery Country*.

### 2. Define values

Admins can define the values for the dropdown either manually or by getting the values from the Data Extension.

::::Tabs
:::Tab{title="Manually"}
You can define both the technical values and the labels shown to the user. On the Values field, enter the technical value, on the Label field, enter a more readable label for the value and hit **Add**. Some use cases where this is very useful:

- Record types (value = record type id, label = name of the record type)
- Product codes (value = product code, label = product name)
- State/country codes (value = state/country code, label = name of the state/country)
:::

:::Tab{title="Automatically"}
1. By clicking the **Retrieve Values** button, Unaric Segment will check the values in the selected field and add the list of retrieved values. Users can also modify the label of a value by simply clicking on the label itself and hit **Save**.
2. A modal will show up providing the estimated time it will take to retrieve the values for the Picklist. Click **Continue** to proceed. The Label will be shown as a more readable text that makes sense to an end-user which will correspond to a Value - usually a technical name.
3. The options, whether entered manually or automatically can be re-ordered and marked as inactive, in which case they won’t be shown to users and all inactive values can be deleted. Enable the picklist toggle by turning it on. This indicates that the Picklist will be shown to users. You should now have this.

::Image[]{src="https://support.deselect.com/hc/article_attachments/29470917354897" size="60" width="2820" height="1188" isUploading="false" darkWidth="2820" darkHeight="1188" showCaption="false"}

Admins can also set an Auto-refresh setting for a Picklist. Using this setting, DESelect Segment will automatically retrieve the values from Data Extensions on the set day/s and time or frequency. Using the toggle switch, you can enable and disable the Auto-refresh setting.

::Image[]{src="https://support.deselect.com/hc/article_attachments/4403557645713" size="60" width="256" height="328" isUploading="false" darkWidth="256" darkHeight="328" showCaption="false"}

Retrieving Picklist values from Data Extension also supports the resulting separator. The separator will split the values of the picklist field into different picklist values wherever the field value contains the selected separator. For example, the *Interests* field contains a value ‘Food,Music’ with ‘,’ as a separator. Instead of creating 1 value for 'Food,Music', this will be translated to 2 values such as 'Food' and 'Music'. This will be important in cases where you need to filter your values inside a picklist.

Admins can use the toggle switch to enable and disable the separator setting.

::Image[]{src="https://support.deselect.com/hc/article_attachments/4403557630225" size="60" width="254" height="135" isUploading="false" darkWidth="254" darkHeight="135" showCaption="false"}

Click **Save** to finalize the setup of your Picklist. If the toggle is switched on, users will start seeing the Picklist in the DESelect UI, for example in the Selected Filters section.
:::
::::

## Remove Missing Values from Picklists

Starting in December 2025, all values that have been removed from a Data Extension are automatically removed from the respective Picklist. All newly created Picklists (created after December 2025) are automatically subject to this policy.

For Picklists created before December 2025, you need to activate the **Remove Missing Values** toggle in the Admin Panel. To do so:

1. Navigate to **Admin Panel > Picklists**.
2. Click the **gear** icon.

::Image[]{src="https://support.deselect.com/hc/article_attachments/41947668044945" size="60" width="1823" height="276" isUploading="false" darkWidth="1823" darkHeight="276" showCaption="false"}

3. Toggle on **Remove Missing Values**.

:::hint{type="info"}
For more information on picklists, see [How can I use a dropdown instead of a free input field in Filters?](https://support.deselect.com/hc/en-us/articles/360009578957-How-can-I-use-a-dropdown-instead-of-a-free-input-field-in-Filters).
:::