What does a router do in Make?
A router copies each bundle onto every route that follows it, in order, so one form response can reach several modules. Without filters, every bundle goes down every route.
In the lesson, Brookside Dental (a made-up practice) already has a scenario that sends each Google Forms response to a Google Sheets row. The form gets a new question, How urgent is this?, with two choices: Urgent and Routine. Urgent requests should email the front desk, routine ones should just land in the sheet.
To add the router you right-click the dotted line between Google Forms and Google Sheets, click Add a router, then click the + on the router to add a second route. The new route gets Gmail: Send an email.
How do you add a filter to a route?
Click the wrench on the line to the next module, choose Set up a filter, give it a label and a condition, and click Save.
The urgent filter in the lesson:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Label | Urgent |
| Condition | How urgent is this? > Value (mapped from the form) |
| Operator | Text operators: Equal to |
| Value | Urgent |
A left-click on the dots of a route that has no filter yet opens the filter panel straight away, which is the quick way to set up the second one.
What is a fallback route in Make?
A fallback route is the route a bundle takes when it matched none of the other routes' filters. You turn it on in the filter panel with Fallback route: Yes.
The routine route in the lesson is the fallback: label Routine, Fallback route: Yes, no condition. That is safer than writing a second filter ("Equal to Routine"), because a blank answer or a new choice someone adds to the form later still lands in the sheet instead of disappearing. It is the same idea as a fallback output in n8n's Switch node.
Does route order matter?
Yes. Make runs the routes one at a time, top to bottom, so put the route that must happen first at the top.
Right-click the router, click Order routes, move the Gmail route up with its arrow, tick Auto-align arranges with set order and click Apply. The alert to the front desk now goes out before the sheet is written.
Five filter examples you can copy
These use the same filter panel. Pick the operator group first (Text, Numeric, Date, Basic), then the operator.
| You want | Condition | Operator | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Only urgent requests | How urgent is this? | Text: Equal to | Urgent |
| Skip blank emails | Basic: Exists | (none) | |
| Big orders only | Total | Numeric: Greater than | 1000 |
| Anything that mentions billing | Reason | Text: Contains (case insensitive) | billing |
| Only new rows from today | Date | Text: Equal to | {{formatDate(now; "YYYY-MM-DD")}} |
Two conditions in one filter can be joined with AND (both must be true) or OR (either one). If a filter never passes anything, open the module bubble after Run once and compare the mapped value with your text: "Urgent " with a trailing space is not equal to "Urgent". Make Filter Operators Cheat Sheet lists every operator group.
Try it free, step by step
Filters and Routers in Make.com: Send Urgent Requests One Way, Routine Ones Another. Add a router to your Make scenario, email the front desk about urgent requests with a filter, and send everything else to Google Sheets with a fallback route. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of Make, it checks your work as you go, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on. Free, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Start the free lessonHow do you test a router?
Click Run once with test data waiting, then check the bubbles: each route shows how many bundles it handled.
The lesson sends two new form responses. After Run once, each route shows a bubble for the one response it handled: the urgent one becomes a Gmail alert about James, the routine one becomes a sheet row. Save the scenario with the Save icon before you leave.
Where does this fit in the course?
Routers come right after the first scenario in Make & Zapier Jump Start. Build Your First Make Scenario first, then this one, then a daily summary email and webhooks. If you also use n8n, n8n If vs Switch shows the same routing idea there.
Key takeaways
- A Make router copies each bundle onto every route; filters decide which routes it actually passes.
- Put a filter on the special route and set the catch-all route to Fallback route: Yes.
- Routes run top to bottom. Use Order routes when one step must happen first.
- Text filters are exact: check the real value in the bubble when a filter never passes.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I add a router in Make?
Right-click the line between two modules and click Add a router, or add a Flow Control > Router module. Click the + on the router to add more routes.
- What is the difference between a filter and a router in Make?
A filter is a condition on one link that lets a bundle through or stops it. A router splits the flow into several routes, and each route can have its own filter.
- Can a bundle go down two routes?
Yes. A router sends a bundle down every route whose filter it passes. Only the fallback route is skipped when another route already matched.
- Does a filter use operations in Make?
Filters themselves are not modules, so they do not count as operations. The modules after them only run, and count, when the bundle passes.
