Lens
A lens is a saved way of looking at a results table: which columns show and in what order, which filters sit ready for you and what they start set to, and how the table is sorted. It holds no search term, so it is not a bookmark; it is the shape any question pours into. Build one once, make it your default, and every results table opens looking the way you work. Lenses apply across Search, Prospecting, and Portfolio; because each shows its own data, you build a lens for the area you are in, and a lens can also apply everywhere if it touches only the detail common to all three.
The Starter view
The first time you reach a results table it opens on the Starter — a sensible set of columns chosen for you, not every available field. A prompt at the head offers Keep this view or Edit lens. Either choice makes the view your own; the Starter is a normal lens, so you can rename it, reshape it, or delete it. If you ever delete every lens, the table falls back to showing all fields, ready for you to curate a fresh one.
Switching lenses
The lens picker sits at the head of every results table. Open it to switch to another saved lens, to Edit current, to Save as new (it captures the current view, leaving the one you started from untouched), or to Manage lenses. Your lenses live in the Saved area alongside your bookmarks, portfolios, and prospecting runs; from there you rename, duplicate, or delete them. Opening a bookmark applies its own filters on top of whatever lens is active, so the bookmark wins where the two meet.
Columns and sort
The editor has two panes. On the left is the field catalogue — every field, grouped and searchable, each with a short description. Switch a field's Column toggle on to show it; the right pane opens on the Columns tab, where your chosen columns sit as a short list. Drag the grip to reorder them. To sort the table, set one column's Sort to ascending or descending; only one column sorts at a time, so choosing a new one releases the last. Everything stays reachable: a lens decides what shows by default, never what you can add.
Filters and their starting values
Switch a field's Filter toggle on to keep it ready in the refinement panel; the right pane opens on the Filters tab, where you set what each filter starts at. The control fits the field: a number takes a range or a threshold, a choice takes a multi-select, a name takes a search, a postcode takes a prefix. A starting value is an overridable default — the value the filter opens at, which you change per search; leave it blank to keep the filter ready without a starting value. A lens never hides filters: + All filters reaches every field in one step, and a field you filter on always shows as a column so you can see what is shaping the table.
Making a lens your default
Tick Make this my default when you save, and choose the scope: everywhere, or just for Search, Prospecting, or Portfolio. The control shows which scope you are setting, so you always know whether you are changing your default for one area or for all of them. When you open a results table, the area's own default applies if it has one, otherwise your everywhere default, and failing both a built-in. Setting a new default of a given scope steps the old one down. You can change a default later from the Saved area, on any lens row.