How to Use Entity Filters
This article explains how to use Entity Filters so that you can control which entities appear on a diagram and focus on what matters for the structure you're working on.
Before You Start
Make sure you have an active Group with a diagram open. If you haven't created a diagram yet, see How to Create Diagrams.
What Entity Filters Do
When you create a diagram, all entities in that Group are included by default. Entity Filters give you control over which of those entities are actually shown on the diagram — without affecting the underlying data.
This means you can create different diagrams for the same Group, each showing only the entities relevant to that particular view. Hiding an entity from a diagram never removes it from your Group — it only changes what appears on that diagram.
Opening the Entity Filter
The Entity Filter button sits to the right of the diagram name and is highlighted in green. Any change you make takes effect on the diagram immediately.
Hiding Entities
Clicking Entity Filter shows you all the entities in the Group. From here, you can deselect any entities you don't want shown on the diagram.
Note: If you hide an entity that another entity is connected to, that other entity may also disappear from the diagram. It won't be removed from your Entity Filter — it'll just be hidden. You can bring it back by dragging it onto the diagram from the Entities panel.
New Entities
If you add a new entity to a Group, it won't automatically appear on existing diagrams. You'll need to select it in the Entity Filter to show it. This is by design — so that creating a new entity doesn't disrupt diagrams you've already set up.
Focus Entity
Entity Filters also let you set a Focus Entity, which is useful when you want to understand how a particular entity connects to the rest of the structure. When you choose a Focus Entity, you can display connections in two ways:
- Direct Links — shows the Focus Entity, all entities directly connected to it, and all entities connected to those entities (one hop further).
- All Links — shows the Focus Entity and every entity connected to it, whether directly or indirectly.
See Focus Entity for the full behaviour, including how applying a Focus Entity rewrites the Entity Filter and when to use it for SMSF, trust, or corporate-group sub-views.