How-to · Linear for Mac
How to filter issues in Linear on Mac: views, criteria and saved filters explained
Open the issue list you want, press F or open the filter menu, and pick a criterion such as status, assignee, or label. The list updates to show matching issues, and you can switch any condition to "is not" or "is either of".
Quick answer
- Press F in an issue list to open the filter menu, then pick one or more criteria.
- Click an operator, such as "is", to switch it to "is not" or "is either of".
- Advanced filter in the filter menu builds AND and OR logic with nested groups.
- Add a filter, then press Option+V or click the Save view icon to keep the list.
- Filters decide which issues appear. Display options only change which properties show.
What you need
- A Linear account with access to the team or workspace you want to filter
- Linear desktop app for macOS on Intel or Apple silicon, or Chrome, Firefox, or Safari
- At least one issue, label, or project in the view you open
How to Filter issues in Linear on Mac in Linear on a Mac
Open the issue list you want to filter
Open All Issues, a team list, a project, or a board. Start where the issues you care about already appear. A filter narrows what you see, so a wrong starting list gives a thin result.
Tip: Read the list title before you filter. It tells you which scope you are in.
Open the filter menu
F
Press F, or open the filter menu from the issue view. The menu lists the criteria you can filter by, such as status, assignee, label, or priority.
Choose a criterion and its values
Pick one criterion, then pick its values. To move faster, type a property name into the filter search, such as a label or priority name.
Read the updated list
The list updates to show matching issues. Scan the rows before you add anything else, so you know which condition did the work.
Tip: If the list is empty, the last value you chose may be too narrow.
Add a second criterion if one is not enough
Open the filter menu again and add another criterion. Use Advanced filter when you need mixed AND and OR logic, covered in the Advanced filter step below.
Switch an operator to exclude issues
Click the operator on a filter, such as "is", and choose "is not" or "is either of". You can change the operator, but not the filter type.
Build AND and OR logic in Advanced filter
Open the filter menu and choose Advanced filter. Build AND and OR conditions, and nest groups when one set of conditions needs to sit inside another.
Try a typed request
Type a request such as Show me issues assigned to me into the filter search. Linear applies filters with AI from the request. Read the applied filters before you rely on the result.
Save the filtered list as a view
⌥V
On a team-specific list or board, add at least one filter. Then press Option+V or click the Save view icon. The icon appears next to Display Options once a filter is applied.
Set the view scope
Leave team, project, and initiative unselected to create a Workspace view. Select one of them to scope the view to that item under Team views. Saved initiative views need the Enterprise plan.
Copy a link to the view
Sharing makes the view visible in its scope. A link alone does not grant access. Open the view's three-dot menu and choose Copy view URL.
Adjust which properties show
⇧V
Open Display options to change which properties show on each row. Display options do not change which issues appear. Filters still decide that.
Tip: The Display options button sits in the top right of a supported view.
Switch between list and board
⌘B
Press ⌘B to toggle between list and board layout on Mac. Linear's docs specify Cmd here, not Ctrl.
Tip: Run the same filter in both layouts to compare results.
Where filtering lives in Linear on Mac
Linear does not put filtering in the macOS menu bar. Filtering is an action inside the issue view, so you will not find a Filter item under the top menus. Linear's filter documentation describes the flow directly. Open the filter menu or press F, choose one or more criteria, and the list updates to show matching issues.
The filter narrows whichever list is open. That might be All Issues, a team list, a project, or a board. Start in the view that already holds the issues you care about. Filtering changes what you see. It does not change the issues themselves.
Menu paths in this guide
The paths in this guide are in-window paths. They start from the issue view and then name the control you click or the key you press. Labels can shift when Linear refreshes its interface, so match on the words, not the position.
Add your first filter
Pick the list first, then the criterion, then the values. Starting with the right list stops you from wondering why a result looks thin. A common first filter is assignee. Choose yourself as the value and the list shows only issues assigned to you.
Switch an operator to exclude issues
Every filter has an operator. You can change the operator, but you cannot change the filter type. Click the operator part of a filter, such as "is", and switch it to "is not" or "is either of". Here is a worked case. You want every issue except the ones labelled Bug. Add the label criterion, select Bug, click "is", and switch it to "is not". The list drops the Bug issues and keeps the rest.
The "is either of" option covers several values in one condition. Use it when you want Bug or Design, rather than adding two separate criteria. A flipped operator is easy to miss, so read it before you trust the list.
Find issues that have no labels
Linear's documented method uses the label criterion. Select all labels, then set the operator to "does not include". The list shows issues that carry none of the labels you selected. The issues left over are the ones with no labels at all.
- Open the filter menu with F and choose the label criterion.
- Select every label listed in the criterion.
- Click the operator and switch it to "does not include".
Build AND and OR logic with Advanced filter
Simple filters cover most questions. Mixed logic needs more. Open the filter menu and choose Advanced filter. It builds AND and OR conditions and supports nested groups. Think of nesting like brackets in a math expression, where one group sits inside another.
Worked example: you want issues assigned to you that carry a Bug label, or any issue with a Design label, whoever it is assigned to. Write two groups, one for your Bug assignments and one for Design. Your labels will have different names, so swap in the names your team uses.
Linear's March 12, 2026 UI refresh restored missing icons for grouped filters in the advanced filter menu. If grouped filters look blank on your Mac, that release contains the fix.
Type a request instead of clicking
You do not always need the menu. Linear accepts a plain request in the filter search. Type "Show me issues assigned to me", and Linear applies filters with AI from what you wrote. Read the applied filters before you save anything, because an AI reading can differ from what you meant.
When you already know the property, type its name. Typing a status, label, or priority name in the filter search narrows the choices quickly. Typed requests suit quick checks, and Advanced filter suits anything with AND and OR.
| Method | Best for | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| F key or filter menu | One or a few criteria picked from a list | Flip the operator to is not when you need exclusion |
| Typed request in filter search | Plain questions such as assigned to me | Read the applied filters before you save |
| Property name in filter search | Jumping straight to a status, label, or priority | Confirm the value you picked before you read the list |
| Advanced filter | AND and OR logic with nested groups | Plan the groups before you click, so the logic stays clear |
Save a filtered list as a view
A filter you rebuild every morning wastes time. Save it. On a team-specific list or board, add at least one filter. Then press Option+V or click the Save view icon. The icon sits next to Display Options and appears only after a filter is applied.
Name the view for the job it does, such as team bugs or unassigned triage. A clear name saves you from opening three similar views to find the one you want.
Pick a scope for each saved view
Scope decides where a view lives and who it reaches. Create a view without choosing a team, project, or initiative, and it becomes a Workspace view. Select a team, project, or initiative, and the view is scoped to that item under Team views. Saved initiative views need the Enterprise plan.
Use a team scope for one team's triage. Use a Workspace view for a list everyone in the company should see. Check the scope before you share, because scope controls visibility.
Share a saved view with your team
Sharing a view makes it visible within its scope. A link alone does not grant access, so a teammate who opens a copied link may still see nothing. To copy the link, open the view's three-dot menu and choose Copy view URL. Only the main filters travel in the URL. View options, quick filters, and Insights filters do not.
Display options do not change which issues appear
Display options is the panel people confuse with filters. It controls which properties show on each row. It does not decide which issues appear. Press Shift+V to open it, or use the Display options button in the top right of a supported view.
Use one rule to sort out a problem. If an issue is missing, check the filters. If a property is missing from the row, check display options.
Switch between list and board on Mac
Press ⌘B to toggle between list and board layout. Linear's docs say Cmd, not Ctrl, is the modifier on Mac. Run the same filter in both layouts when you want to compare how issues spread across columns.
Mistakes that hide issues
- Checking a narrow view and assuming the whole workspace matches. Confirm the scope before you read the results.
- Using is when you meant is not. Flip the operator and read the list again.
- Forgetting a condition in a saved view. Open the view and read each filter.
- Expecting a milestone filter without a project. Milestone filtering needs a project filter first.
- Expecting display options to hide issues. They change which properties show, not which issues appear.
- Searching for a suspended user. Suspended users cannot be filtered directly.
Desktop app or browser on Mac
Linear's desktop app runs on macOS Intel and macOS Apple silicon. It updates itself in the background. Linear says the desktop app adds OS notifications, dock unread badges, and fewer shortcut conflicts with browser shortcuts. That last point matters here, because a browser can use some of the same keys.
Nearly all desktop features also work on the web, in the latest three versions of Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Brave users must turn off Brave Shields for linear.app before links open in the desktop app. Linear does not publish a desktop version number on its download page, so this guide does not name one.
What changed in 2026
Filter menus have changed this year. Linear's March 12, 2026 UI refresh let Inbox filter notifications by actor. It also let Initiatives filter by created, updated, completed, start date, and latest update date. The changelog entry for September 3, 2026 added creating a filter to customize what appears in Priority.
If a menu on your Mac looks different from this guide, the labels may have moved. Look for the same criterion and the same operator under the new wording.
Cycle filters: Planned and After cycle
The Added to cycle filter has two values that catch people out. Planned covers issues added before the cycle starts, or within 24 hours after it begins. After cycle covers issues added more than 24 hours after the cycle starts.
Use Planned to see the work a cycle started with. Use After cycle to find issues that arrived later.
Where to go next
Once a saved view works, use it as the start of your triage routine. If you select several issues from it, the multi-select guide covers Shift, the arrow keys, and X.
If you want to reach commands without hunting through menus, read How to open the command menu in Linear on Mac. For product work, the Linear guide for product managers covers projects and board shortcuts.
Linear shortcuts for this on Mac
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| Open the filter menu | F |
| Save the current filtered view | ⌥V |
| Open Display options | ⇧V |
| Toggle list and board layout | ⌘B |
If it does not work
- Issues with no labels do not show up
- Select every label in the label criterion, then set the operator to "does not include". The list then shows issues that carry none of those labels.
- Milestone filter is missing or empty
- Milestone filtering needs a project filter first. Add the project, then add the milestone.
- Save view icon does not appear
- Add at least one filter on a team-specific list or board. The icon appears next to Display Options once a filter is applied. Option+V works too.
- A teammate opens your link and sees nothing
- Share the view so it shows within its scope. A link alone does not grant access. Only main filters travel in the URL.
- An archived issue does not show in search
- A third-party write-up suggests the Include archived toggle in the / command menu search, or the All Issues filter panel. Linear's docs do not confirm this.
- A filter menu looks different from this guide
- Linear changed filter menus in its March 12, 2026 UI refresh and in later changes. Look for the same criterion and operator under the current labels.
Faster with Lazur
Do it faster: ask Lazur while you are in Linear
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Questions people ask
Where is the filter option in Linear on Mac?
Linear puts filtering inside the issue view, not in the macOS menu bar. Press F or open the filter menu from the view, then pick a criterion. The list updates to show matching issues.
How do I exclude issues instead of showing them?
Add the criterion, click its operator such as "is", and switch it to "is not". Use "is either of" when you want several values in one condition.
Can I combine AND and OR in one Linear filter?
Yes, with Advanced filter. Choose it from the filter menu. It builds AND and OR conditions and supports nested groups, so you can put one set of conditions inside another.
Why is the Save view icon missing?
The icon appears only after you apply at least one filter, next to Display Options. It works on team-specific lists and boards. Add a filter and it shows up, or press Option+V.
Does filtering change the issues themselves?
No. Filters control which issues appear in the list. They change what you see, not the issues themselves.
Can I send a filtered view to someone with a link?
Share the view so it appears within its scope, because a link alone does not grant access. Copy view URL from the view's three-dot menu. Only main filters go into the URL. Quick filters, view options, and Insights filters do not.
Why can't I filter for a suspended user?
Linear's filter docs say suspended users cannot be filtered directly, so plan around that. Ask a workspace admin if you need their issues.
Does the desktop app filter differently from the browser?
Linear says nearly all desktop features are also on the web, in the latest three versions of Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. The desktop app mainly adds OS notifications, dock badges, and fewer shortcut conflicts.
Sources
- Filters: Linear Docs · Linear · checked 2026-11-09
- Custom views: Linear Docs · Linear · checked 2026-11-09
- Display options: Linear Docs · Linear · checked 2026-11-09
- Download Linear: Linear Docs · Linear · checked 2026-11-09
- UI refresh: Linear Changelog · Linear · checked 2026-11-09
- Linear Changelog · Linear · checked 2026-11-09
- Linear Search Not Working: AskOro (third party) · AskOro (third party) · checked 2026-11-09
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