QUERY basics: select, where, order by

QUERY runs a short question, written in a language much like SQL, against a range: =QUERY(A1:E9, "select A, B where D < 10", 1). The first argument is the data, the second is the query in double quotes, and the third is how many header rows the data has. The results, header row included, fill the cells below and to the right.

Columns are named by their letters in the sheet, not by their headers. select A, B, D returns those three columns in that order, and select * returns all of them. Pass the headers argument every time. Without it, Sheets guesses from the data, and a wrong guess can treat your header row as data or your first row of data as a header.

where keeps the rows that pass a test. Numbers go in as they are: where D < 10. Text goes in single quotes, because the whole query already sits inside double quotes: where C = 'Leafline'. Join tests with and and or, and use parentheses when you mix them. For part of a text value, use contains, starts with or ends with.

Text comparisons in QUERY are case-sensitive, so where B contains 'green' misses "Green tea". Wrap the column in lower() and compare with lowercase text to match any capitalization. Finally, order by E desc sorts the result largest first and limit 3 keeps the first three rows. The clauses always come in this order: select, where, order by, limit.