---
title: "Screeners"
description: "What a Fincanva screener is and where its parts live: the filters that pick instruments, the matches that pass them, and the backtest on history."
canonical_url: "https://fincanva.com/docs/screeners"
last_updated: "2026-10-08"
md_url: "https://fincanva.com/docs/screeners.md"
---

# Screeners

A [screener](/glossary/screener) is a saved set of filter conditions that picks, from a [universe](/glossary/universe) of stocks, ETPs or crypto, the instruments that pass every one of them on the latest market close. In the app you build it in its own workspace, with these parts: touch one.

Screeners in the app: Filters, Matches, Backtest — each is a group below.

## Filters

The filter strip: the [asset type](/glossary/asset-type), the universe the instruments are drawn from, and one chip per condition an [instrument](/glossary/instrument) must pass.

- [Build a screener](/docs/screeners/build-a-screener): You build a screener in its workspace: choose the universe it draws from, add filter conditions, then name it and save it to your library.
- [Screen for a crossing or a valuation band](/docs/screeners/screen-for-a-crossing-or-a-valuation-band): To screen for something that happened — a price crossing a line — or for a state, such as a market valuation band, add one of six filters and pick a special relation instead of a numeric operator.

Key terms: [Filter condition anatomy](/glossary/filter-condition-anatomy), [Filter taxonomy](/glossary/filter-taxonomy), [Standard operators](/glossary/standard-operators), [Comparison modes](/glossary/comparison-modes), [Universe facets](/glossary/universe-facets), [Sequential filtering and Top-N ranking](/glossary/sequential-filtering-and-top-n-ranking).

[All 8 terms](/glossary?subject=screeners&group=filters)

## Matches

The instruments that pass every condition today, in a table you can re-column, sort and page. A [strategy](/glossary/strategy) can also use a screener to pick what it holds, as an [entry or exit screener](/glossary/screener-attach).

- [Read your matches](/docs/screeners/read-your-matches): The Matches tab lists every instrument that passes all of a screener's conditions, in a table you can re-column, search, sort and page through.
- [Read the columns of your matches](/docs/screeners/read-the-columns-of-your-matches): A screener's results table shows its matches under five tabs of columns — Overview, Returns, Fundamentals, Ratios and Dividend — and each tab reads the same instruments through a different lens.

Key terms: [Matches](/glossary/matches), [Max-symbols cap](/glossary/max-symbols-cap), [Fundamental metric columns](/glossary/fundamental-metric-columns), [Screener execution and caching](/glossary/screener-execution-and-caching).

[All 5 terms](/glossary?subject=screeners&group=matches)

## Backtest

The screen re-run month by month over history: what its matches went on to return over six holding horizons, against a [benchmark](/glossary/benchmark).

- [Backtest a screener](/docs/screeners/backtest-a-screener): A screener backtest re-screens the market month by month over history and measures what the matches went on to return over six holding horizons, against a benchmark; you run it from the screener's Backtest tab.

Key terms: [Screener backtest](/glossary/screener-backtest), [Holding horizon](/glossary/holding-horizon), [Screener-backtest benchmark](/glossary/screener-backtest-benchmark), [Filter impact lenses](/glossary/filter-impact-lenses), [Event-time path](/glossary/event-time-path).

[All 6 terms](/glossary?subject=screeners&group=backtest)

## Frequent questions

- [Why can't I save my screener?](/docs/screeners/build-a-screener#why-cant-i-save-my-screener)
- [How do I keep only the top few instruments rather than everything that passes?](/docs/screeners/build-a-screener#how-do-i-keep-only-the-top-few-instruments-rather-than-everything-that-passes)
- [What order does the list open in?](/docs/screeners/read-your-matches#what-order-does-the-list-open-in)
- [My screener matches more instruments than my strategy holds — why?](/docs/screeners/read-your-matches#my-screener-matches-more-instruments-than-my-strategy-holds-why)
- [What exactly do the six horizons measure?](/docs/screeners/backtest-a-screener#what-exactly-do-the-six-horizons-measure)

Fincanva is for education and illustration only. It is not personalised financial advice, and past or simulated results do not predict future ones. [Read the Terms Addendum](https://fincanva.com/terms/addendum#section-3)