---
title: Explore metrics with InfluxDB
description: >
  Explore and visualize your data in InfluxDB's Data Explorer.
  The InfluxDB user interface (UI) allows you to move seamlessly between using the
  Flux builder and manually editing the query.
menu:
  v2_0:
    name: Explore metrics
    parent: Visualize data
weight: 101
---

Explore and visualize your data in the **Data Explorer**.
The InfluxDB user interface (UI) allows you to move seamlessly between using the
Flux builder or templates and manually editing the query.
Choose between [visualization types](/v2.0/visualize-data/visualization-types/) for your query.

To open the **Data Explorer**, click the **Explore** (**Data Explorer**) icon in the left navigation menu:

{{< nav-icon "data-explorer" >}}

## Explore data with Flux and the Data Explorer

Flux is InfluxData's functional data scripting language designed for querying,
analyzing, and acting on time series data.
See [Get started with Flux](/v2.0/query-data/get-started) to learn more about Flux.

1. In the navigation menu on the left, select **Explore* (**Data Explorer**).

    {{< nav-icon "data-explorer" >}}

2. Use the Flux builder in the bottom panel to create a Flux query:
  - Select a bucket to define your data source or select `+ Create Bucket` to add a new bucket.
  - Edit your time range with the [time range option](#select-time-range) in the dropdown menu.
  - Add filters to narrow your data by selecting attributes or columns in the dropdown menu.
  - Select **Group** from the **Filter** dropdown menu to group data into tables. For more about how grouping data in Flux works, see [Group data](/v2.0/query-data/flux/group-data/).    
3. Alternatively, click **Script Editor** to manually edit the query.
   To switch back to the query builder, click **Query Builder**. Note that your updates from the Script Editor will not be saved.
4. Use the **Functions** list to review the available Flux functions.
   Click a function from the list to add it to your query.
5. Click **Submit** (or press `Control+Enter`) to run your query. You can then preview your graph in the above pane.
6. To work on multiple queries at once, click the {{< icon "plus" >}} to add another tab.
  * Click the eye icon on a tab to hide or show a query's visualization.
  * Click the name of the query in the tab to rename it.

## Visualize your query

Select from available [visualization types](/v2.0/visualize-data/visualization-types/) or enable the **View Raw Data** option to view all of your query's results.

Select a visualization type from the dropdown menu in the upper-left.

    {{< img-hd src="/img/2-0-visualization-dropdown.png" title="Visualization dropdown" />}}

## Control your dashboard cell

To open the cell editor overlay, click the gear icon in the upper right of a cell and select **Configure**.
 The cell editor overlay opens.

### View raw data

Toggle the **View Raw Data** {{< icon "toggle" >}} option to see your data in table format instead of a graph. Use this option when data can't be visualized using a visualization type.

 {{< img-hd src="/img/beta-8-raw-data.png" alt="View raw data" />}}

### Save as CSV

Click the CSV icon to save the cells contents as a CSV file.

### Select auto-refresh interval

Select how frequently to refresh the dashboard's data. By default, refreshing is paused.

{{< img-hd src="/img/beta-8-interval-dropdown.png" alt="Select refresh interval" />}}

### Manually refresh dashboard

Click the refresh button ({{< icon "refresh" >}}) to manually refresh the dashboard's data.

### Select time range

1. Select from the time range options in the dropdown menu.

    {{< img-hd src="/img/2-0-controls-time-range.png" alt="Select time range" />}}

2. Select **Custom Time Range** to enter a custom time range with precision up to nanoseconds.
The default time range is 5m.

### Query Builder or Script Editor

Click **Query Builder** to use the builder to create a Flux query. Click **Script Editor** to manually edit the query.

#### Keyboard shortcuts

In **Script Editor** mode, the following keyboard shortcuts are available:


| Key                            | Description                                 |
|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|
| `Control + /` (`⌘ + /` on Mac) | Comment/uncomment current or selected lines |
| `Control + Enter`              | Submit query                                |

## Save your query as a dashboard cell or task

**To save your query**:

Click **Save as** in the upper right, then:
- To add your query to a dashboard, click **Dashboard Cell**.
- To save your query as a task, click **Task**.
- To save your query as a variable, click **Variable**.
