Filters can interact differently with visualizations depending on the number of datasets and whether the datasets are joined.

If there's a single dataset in a workbook, and you add a filter, there are no restrictions on which data the filter applies to.

If a workbook contains multiple datasets, make sure that they're joined if you want to use data elements from one dataset as filters in your workbook. Filters based on data elements from one dataset don't work on visualizations using data from another dataset if the datasets aren't joined.