---
id: AA-01451
title: "Customizing Views in the SiteAudit Viewer"
url: http://netaphor.com/kb/AA-01451/customizing-views-in-the-siteaudit-viewer
product: "SiteAudit OnSite"
type: "How-to & configuration"
updated: 2026-11-04
access: public
---


# Customizing Views in the SiteAudit Viewer

Every view in the SiteAudit Viewer (Inventory, Consumables, Problem Analysis, Volume Analysis, Incident History, Lifetime Counters, and the others on the **View** menu and toolbar) shows its data in a grid. You can change that grid to show exactly what you need: add or remove columns, change their order and width, sort, group, and filter. The Viewer remembers the changes, and you can save a customized view as a `.view` file to reopen, schedule, or share.

## Before you begin

- **Pick the right view.** Each view offers its own set of columns. Columns common to all views, such as **Manufacturer**, **Model**, **IP Address**, and **Serial #**, are available everywhere; view-specific columns (for example, consumable levels or critical errors) are only in the view that collects them. If you plan a report, list the columns you need first, then choose the view that has them. See SiteAudit Viewer Field Column Definitions.
- **Set the time span.** The time span on the toolbar controls which period of data the view shows. A shorter time span also makes large views faster to load.

  ![The time span selector on the Viewer toolbar](http://netaphor.com/kb/media/AA-01451/filtering-timespan2.jpg)

- **Inactive printers are hidden by default.** If a printer you expect is missing, check **Setup > Display Configuration**. When **Only show active printers** is selected, inactive printers are hidden from every view.

## The column header menu

Most customizations start by right-clicking a column header. The menu applies to the column you right-clicked.

![The column header menu, with the Column Chooser (Customization window) open](http://netaphor.com/kb/media/AA-01451/column-header-menu.png)

| Menu command | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Sort Ascending** / **Sort Descending** | Sorts the view by this column. |
| **Clear All Sorting** | Removes sorting from every column. |
| **Group By This Column** | Groups the rows by this column's values. |
| **Hide Group By Box** | Hides the Group By box above the column headers. |
| **Hide This Column** | Removes this column from the view. |
| **Column Chooser** | Opens the list of columns you can add. It's unavailable while the Column Chooser is already open. |
| **Best Fit** | Sizes this column to fit its contents. |
| **Best Fit (all columns)** | Sizes every column to fit its contents. |
| **Filter Editor...** | Opens the filter editor to build a filter across one or more columns. |
| **Show Find Panel** | Shows a search box above the grid for finding text in the view. |
| **Show Auto Filter Row** | Shows a row under the column headers where you can type a filter value for each column. |

## Add columns with the Column Chooser

Each view shows a standard set of columns. Many more are available but hidden.

1. Right-click any column header and select **Column Chooser**.
   The **Customization** window opens and lists the columns for this view that aren't already shown.

   ![The Column Chooser (Customization window)](http://netaphor.com/kb/media/AA-01451/columnchooser.png)

2. Add a column in either of these ways:
   - **Double-click** the column name to add it to the grid.
   - **Drag** the column name to the column header area and drop it where you want it. Arrows mark the position where the column will be placed.
3. Repeat for any other columns you want.
4. Close the Customization window by clicking the **X** in its top-right corner.

> **Tip:** Some useful columns are hidden by default, such as **Status**, **Managed Status**, **Last Attempted Communication**, and **Last Successful Communication**. Custom fields also appear in the Column Chooser under their translated name; a custom field with no translation doesn't appear in the list.

## Remove columns

Removing a column only hides it in this view. No data is deleted, and you can add it back at any time from the Column Chooser.

- Right-click the column header and select **Hide This Column**, **or**
- With the Column Chooser open, drag the column header from the grid into the Customization window, **or**
- Drag the column header down off the header row into the grid area and drop it.

## Reorder and resize columns

- **Move a column:** Drag its header left or right to a new position in the header row and drop it.
- **Change a column's width:** Drag the right edge of its header.
- **Fit columns to their contents:** Right-click a header and select **Best Fit** for that column, or **Best Fit (all columns)** for every column in the view.

## Sort data

- Click a column header to sort the view by that column. Click the same header again to reverse the order. An arrow in the header shows the current sort direction.
- You can also right-click a header and select **Sort Ascending** or **Sort Descending**.
- To sort by more than one column, sort by the first column, then hold **Shift** and click the header of the next column.
- To remove all sorting, right-click any header and select **Clear All Sorting**.

## Group data

Grouping collects rows that share a value and shows how many rows are in each group. For example, grouping the Inventory view by **Manufacturer** shows how many printers you have from each manufacturer.

1. Drag a column header (for example, **Manufacturer**) to the **Group By** box above the column headers. You can also right-click the header and select **Group By This Column**.

   ![Dragging the Manufacturer column to the Group By box](http://netaphor.com/kb/media/AA-01451/filtering-groupbycolumn.jpg)

   The grid now shows one row per manufacturer with the number of printers in each.

   ![The Inventory view grouped by manufacturer](http://netaphor.com/kb/media/AA-01451/filtering-groupedbymanufacturer.jpg)

2. Expand a group to see the individual printers in it.

   ![A manufacturer group expanded to show its printers](http://netaphor.com/kb/media/AA-01451/filtering-groupedbymanufacturer2.jpg)

3. To group by more than one level, drag another header to the **Group By** box. For example, group by **Output** and then by **Manufacturer** to see color and monochrome printers, each broken down by manufacturer.
4. You can still sort within groups: click a column header to sort the rows inside each group.

   ![Printers grouped by output and sorted by manufacturer](http://netaphor.com/kb/media/AA-01451/filtering-groupedbyoutput3.jpg)

5. To remove a grouping, drag the header from the **Group By** box back to the column header row.

To hide the Group By box when you don't need it, right-click a header and select **Hide Group By Box**. Use the same menu to show it again.

## Filter data

Filters limit the view to the rows that meet your conditions, such as only certain manufacturers or only printers with more than a day of downtime.

### Filter a single column

1. Move the pointer over the column header until a funnel icon appears.

   ![The filter funnel on a column header](http://netaphor.com/kb/media/AA-01451/filtering-filter-01.jpg)

2. Click the funnel, then either:
   - Select a value from the list to show only rows with that value, **or**
   - Select **(Custom)** to open the **Custom AutoFilter** dialog.

   ![The funnel list with the (Custom) option](http://netaphor.com/kb/media/AA-01451/filtering-filter-02.jpg)

3. In **Custom AutoFilter**, enter one or two conditions, such as **equals**, **does not equal**, **is greater than**, or **is less than**, and click **OK**.

   ![Custom AutoFilter showing Manufacturer equals Brother or Hewlett-Packard](http://netaphor.com/kb/media/AA-01451/filtering-filter-03.jpg)

   ![The conditions available in Custom AutoFilter](http://netaphor.com/kb/media/AA-01451/filtering-filter-05-conditions.jpg)

For example, filter the **Manufacturer** column to show rows where the value equals **Brother** *or* equals **Hewlett-Packard**.

For quick filtering on several columns, right-click a header and select **Show Auto Filter Row**, then type a value in the row under each column header you want to filter. To search for text anywhere in the view, select **Show Find Panel**.

### Build a filter across several columns

Use the filter editor for conditions that combine columns.

1. Click **Edit Filter** at the bottom right of the grid, or right-click a column header and select **Filter Editor...**.

   ![The Edit Filter button](http://netaphor.com/kb/media/AA-01451/filtering-complex-01.jpg)

2. Click the plus sign to add a condition.

   ![Adding a condition in the filter editor](http://netaphor.com/kb/media/AA-01451/filtering-complex-02.jpg)

3. Click the column name in the condition and choose the column to test.
4. Click the operator (for example, **Equals**) and choose a different one if needed, such as **Is greater than or equal to**.
5. Click **<Enter a value>** and type the value.
6. Add more conditions with the plus sign. To combine conditions differently, click **And** to change it to **Or**, or to add a group of conditions. For example, one **Or** group can list several manufacturers while an **And** joins that group to a downtime condition.

   ![Changing And to Or for a group of conditions](http://netaphor.com/kb/media/AA-01451/filtering-complex-08.jpg)

7. Click **OK** to apply the filter.

For a worked example, see [Filtering Data for Analysis](http://netaphor.com/kb/AA-00524). For date conditions, see Understanding the Date and Time Operators.

### Reuse, change, or clear a filter

- The Viewer keeps the filters you have used with each view. Click the arrow at the bottom left of the grid and select a filter to apply it again.

  ![Selecting a previously used filter](http://netaphor.com/kb/media/AA-01451/filtering-complex-10.jpg)

- To change the current filter, click **Edit Filter** and edit its conditions.
- To turn off the current filter, use the controls in the filter bar at the bottom of the grid: clear the check box to disable the filter temporarily, or click the **X** to remove it.

> **Tip:** Notification rules use the same condition logic as filters, so a filter you build here is a good way to try out a rule's conditions.

## Save your customized view

The Viewer automatically remembers the last state of each view you open (its columns, sort, grouping, and filters), so the view looks the same the next time you open it on the same computer. These settings are stored per Windows user in:

`C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Netaphor\SiteAudit\defaultviews`

To keep a customized view as a separate report you can reopen, schedule, or give to someone else:

1. On the **File** menu, click **Save As**.
2. Enter a descriptive name (for example, `HighUseSuppliesReport.view`) and save it in a folder you can find again.
3. To open it later, select **File > Open** and select the `.view` file. After changing an opened view, select **File > Save** to update it.

A saved `.view` file is also the template for scheduled reports. See [Scheduling Reports in SiteAudit](http://netaphor.com/kb/AA-00440).

## Reset views to their defaults

To return all views to the way they were when the Viewer was installed, select **View > Reset Views**.

![The Reset Views command on the View menu](http://netaphor.com/kb/media/AA-01451/resetviews.png)

**Important:** Reset Views affects every view, and all customizations and stored filters are permanently removed.

![Stored filters for a view, which Reset Views removes](http://netaphor.com/kb/media/AA-01451/filters.png)

To keep some of them, close the Viewer and rename the `defaultviews` folder before you reset. After the reset, SiteAudit creates a new `defaultviews` folder, and you can copy the `.view` files you want to keep back into it. Files you saved with **File > Save As** elsewhere are not affected. See [Resetting Views](http://netaphor.com/kb/AA-00644).

> **New columns missing after an upgrade?** An upgrade can add new columns to existing views that don't appear in the view or the Column Chooser. Select **View > Reset Views** to make them available. See [New Columns Don't Appear](http://netaphor.com/kb/AA-00575).

## Related articles

- [Filtering Data for Analysis](http://netaphor.com/kb/AA-00524)
- SiteAudit Viewer Field Column Definitions
- [Resetting Views](http://netaphor.com/kb/AA-00644)
- [Scheduling Reports in SiteAudit](http://netaphor.com/kb/AA-00440)