In answer to your first sentence ... AFAIK Auto filter  hides rows based on
column values - never the reverse.

However, I do not understand the rest of your message at all. It sounds as
though you are still trying to do a column-selected filter (M1, M2) to hide
the rows you don't want. This is what Auto Filter does, so I don't see
where this relates to your first line. You probably should re-describe your
problem.