---
id: api/commands/filter
title: filter | Cypress Documentation
description: Get the DOM elements that match a specific selector in Cypress.
section: api
source_path: docs/api/commands/filter.mdx
version: 48b03b5502f7aea1d0454750cce208f775403542
updated_at: '2026-05-20T19:00:20.270Z'
---
# filter

Get the DOM elements that match a specific selector.

Opposite of [`.not()`](/llm/markdown/api/commands/not.md)

The querying behavior of this command matches exactly how [`.filter()`](http://api.jquery.com/filter) works in jQuery.

## Syntax

```
.filter(selector).filter(selector, options)
```

### Usage

**Correct Usage**

```
cy.get('td').filter('.users') // Yield all el's with class '.users'
```

**Incorrect Usage**

```
cy.filter('.animated') // Errors, cannot be chained off 'cy'cy.clock().filter() // Errors, 'clock' does not yield DOM elements
```

### Arguments

**selector _(String selector)_**

A selector used to filter matching DOM elements.

**options _(Object)_**

Pass in an options object to change the default behavior of `.filter()`.

| Option | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `log` | `true` | Displays the command in the [Command log](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/open-mode.md#Command-Log) |
| `timeout` | [`defaultCommandTimeout`](/llm/markdown/app/references/configuration.md#Timeouts) | Time to wait for `.filter()` to resolve before [timing out](#Timeouts) |

### Yields [Learn about subject management](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/introduction-to-cypress.md#Subject-Management)

*   `.filter()` yields the new DOM element(s) it found.
*   `.filter()` is a query, and it is _safe_ to chain further commands.

## Examples

### Selector

#### Filter the current subject to the elements with the class 'active'

```
<ul>  <li>Home</li>  <li class="active">About</li>  <li>Services</li>  <li>Pricing</li>  <li>Contact</li></ul>
```

```
// yields <li>About</li>cy.get('ul').find('>li').filter('.active')
```

### Contains

#### Filter by text

You can use the [jQuery :contains](https://api.jquery.com/contains-selector/) selector to perform a case-sensitive text substring match.

```
<ul>  <li>Home</li>  <li>Services</li>  <li>Advanced Services</li>  <li>Pricing</li>  <li>Contact</li></ul>
```

Let's find both list items that contain the work "Services"

```
cy.get('li').filter(':contains("Services")').should('have.length', 2)
```

#### Non-breaking space

If the HTML contains a [non-breaking space](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-breaking_space) entity `&nbsp;` and the test uses the [jQuery :contains](https://api.jquery.com/contains-selector/) selector, then the test needs to use the Unicode value `\u00a0` instead of `&nbsp;`.

```
<div data-testid="testattr">  <span>Hello&nbsp;world</span></div>
```

```
cy.get('[data-testid="testattr"]').filter(':contains("Hello\u00a0world")')
```

## Rules

### Requirements [Learn about chaining commands](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/introduction-to-cypress.md#Chains-of-Commands)

*   `.filter()` requires being chained off a command that yields DOM element(s).

### Assertions [Learn about assertions](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/introduction-to-cypress.md#Assertions)

*   `.filter()` will automatically [retry](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/retry-ability.md) until the element(s) [exist in the DOM](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/introduction-to-cypress.md#Implicit-Assertions).
*   `.filter()` will automatically [retry](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/retry-ability.md) until all chained assertions have passed.

### Timeouts [Learn about timeouts](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/introduction-to-cypress.md#Timeouts)

*   `.filter()` can time out waiting for the element(s) to [exist in the DOM](/llm/markdown/app/core-concepts/introduction-to-cypress.md#Implicit-Assertions).
*   `.filter()` can time out waiting for assertions you've added to pass.

## Command Log

**_Filter the li's to the li with the class 'active'._**

```
cy.get('.left-nav>.nav').find('>li').filter('.active')
```

The commands above will display in the Command Log as:

When clicking on the `filter` command within the command log, the console outputs the following:

## See also

*   [`.not()`](/llm/markdown/api/commands/not.md)