diff --git a/admin/templates/admin/group_list.html b/admin/templates/admin/group_list.html
index 78d61186..7d56d1ab 100644
--- a/admin/templates/admin/group_list.html
+++ b/admin/templates/admin/group_list.html
@@ -57,5 +57,5 @@
 {% endblock content %}
 
 {% block script %}
-<script src="{% static 'js/filter-table.js' %}"></script>
+<script src="{% static 'js/table_filter.js' %}"></script>
 {% endblock script %}
diff --git a/admin/templates/admin/tombstone_list.html b/admin/templates/admin/tombstone_list.html
index b182c031..48328576 100644
--- a/admin/templates/admin/tombstone_list.html
+++ b/admin/templates/admin/tombstone_list.html
@@ -61,5 +61,5 @@
 {% endblock content %}
 
 {% block script %}
-<script src="{% static 'js/filter-table.js' %}"></script>
+<script src="{% static 'js/table_filter.js' %}"></script>
 {% endblock script %}
diff --git a/admin/templates/admin/user_list.html b/admin/templates/admin/user_list.html
index ea69cfbc..c1ca7afb 100644
--- a/admin/templates/admin/user_list.html
+++ b/admin/templates/admin/user_list.html
@@ -85,5 +85,5 @@
 {% endblock content %}
 
 {% block script %}
-<script src="{% static "js/filter-table.js" %}"></script>
+<script src="{% static 'js/table_filter.js' %}"></script>
 {% endblock script %}
diff --git a/computes/templates/computes/instances.html b/computes/templates/computes/instances.html
index a8e5b211..f4bfb2cf 100644
--- a/computes/templates/computes/instances.html
+++ b/computes/templates/computes/instances.html
@@ -113,5 +113,5 @@
 {% block script %}
 <script src="{% static 'js/poll.js' %}"></script>
 {% job_panel_script job_resource %}
-<script src="{% static 'js/filter-table.js' %}"></script>
+<script src="{% static 'js/table_filter.js' %}"></script>
 {% endblock %}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/computes/templates/computes/list.html b/computes/templates/computes/list.html
index ad5ad4a0..2bc49784 100644
--- a/computes/templates/computes/list.html
+++ b/computes/templates/computes/list.html
@@ -106,5 +106,5 @@
 {% endblock content %}
 
 {% block script %}
-<script src="{% static 'js/filter-table.js' %}"></script>
+<script src="{% static 'js/table_filter.js' %}"></script>
 {% endblock script %}
diff --git a/instances/templates/allinstances.html b/instances/templates/allinstances.html
index 7c5f1192..4e7e91c0 100644
--- a/instances/templates/allinstances.html
+++ b/instances/templates/allinstances.html
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@
     </div>
 {% endblock content %}
 {% block script %}
-    <script src="{% static 'js/instance_filter.js' %}"></script>
+    <script src="{% static 'js/table_filter.js' %}"></script>
     <script src="{% static 'js/find_address.js' %}"></script>
     {% if request.user.is_superuser %}
         <script>
diff --git a/instances/templates/allinstances_index_grouped.html b/instances/templates/allinstances_index_grouped.html
index e0b85954..e4ecc879 100644
--- a/instances/templates/allinstances_index_grouped.html
+++ b/instances/templates/allinstances_index_grouped.html
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
         {% for compute in computes %}
             <tbody class="searchable" data-host="{{ compute.name }}">
                 {% if compute.instance_set.count > 0 %}
-                    <tr class="table-secondary fw-bold border-bottom border-dark" data-sort-method="none">
+                    <tr class="table-secondary fw-bold border-bottom border-dark" data-sort-method="none" data-group-header>
                         <td>
                             <span id="collapse_host_instances_{{ compute.id }}" onclick="hide_host_instances('{{ compute.id }}');" class="bi bi-chevron-up" ></span>
                         </td>
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@
 {% block script %}
 <script>
 // a collapsed host's VM rows are hidden by its table body's class, so the
-// search (instance_filter.js, the hidden attribute) can still hide them too
+// search (table_filter.js, the hidden attribute) can still hide them too
 function hide_all_host_instances() {
     $('tbody.searchable').toggleClass('host-collapsed');
     $('span[id^=collapse_host_instances_]').toggleClass("bi bi-chevron-down ").toggleClass("bi bi-chevron-up");
diff --git a/instances/tests/js/instance_filter.test.js b/instances/tests/js/table_filter.test.js
similarity index 63%
rename from instances/tests/js/instance_filter.test.js
rename to instances/tests/js/table_filter.test.js
index b3b67d19..5c0298be 100644
--- a/instances/tests/js/instance_filter.test.js
+++ b/instances/tests/js/table_filter.test.js
@@ -1,20 +1,26 @@
-// node instance_filter.test.js path/to/static/js/instance_filter.js
+// node table_filter.test.js path/to/static/js/table_filter.js
 const assert = require("assert");
-const {filterInstances} = require(process.argv[2]);
+const {filterTable: filterInstances} = require(process.argv[2]);
 
-// A minimal DOM: table bodies of rows; a VM row holds its state mark.
+// A minimal DOM: table bodies of rows; a VM row holds its state mark, a
+// group's header row is marked as one.
 function vm(text, state) {
     const mark = {dataset: {state}};
-    return {textContent: text, hidden: false, querySelector: (s) => (s === "[data-state]" ? mark : null)};
+    return {textContent: text, hidden: false, hasAttribute: () => false,
+            querySelector: (s) => (s === "[data-state]" ? mark : null)};
 }
 function hostRow(text) {
-    return {textContent: text, hidden: false, querySelector: () => null};
+    return {textContent: text, hidden: false, hasAttribute: (a) => a === "data-group-header", querySelector: () => null};
+}
+function plainRow(text) {
+    return {textContent: text, hidden: false, hasAttribute: () => false, querySelector: () => null};
 }
 function group(rows, host) {
     return {dataset: host ? {host} : {}, querySelectorAll: (s) => (s === "tr" ? rows : [])};
 }
 function page(groups, text, state) {
-    const inputs = {filter: {value: text}, "state-filter": {value: state}};
+    // a list without a state list (state undefined) has no such element
+    const inputs = {filter: {value: text}, "state-filter": state === undefined ? undefined : {value: state}};
     return {
         getElementById: (id) => inputs[id],
         querySelectorAll: (s) => (s === ".searchable" ? groups : []),
@@ -49,3 +55,12 @@ filterInstances(page(groups, "host-a", "Off"));
 assert.deepStrictEqual(visible(a), ["host-a Connected", "db-1 Off"], "the state applies to a host's VMs too");
 filterInstances(page(groups, "Connected", ""));
 assert.deepStrictEqual(visible(a), [], "a host row's other text is not its name");
+
+// any other list: no state list, no groups; its rows are filtered by their text
+const plain = [plainRow("alice Active"), plainRow("bob (vda) Blocked"), plainRow("carol Active")];
+filterInstances(page([group(plain)], "ACTIVE"));
+assert.deepStrictEqual(visible(plain), ["alice Active", "carol Active"], "a plain list is searched");
+filterInstances(page([group(plain)], "(vda"));
+assert.deepStrictEqual(visible(plain), ["bob (vda) Blocked"], "a bracket is text there too");
+filterInstances(page([group(plain)], ""));
+assert.deepStrictEqual(visible(plain), ["alice Active", "bob (vda) Blocked", "carol Active"]);
diff --git a/instances/tests/test_states.py b/instances/tests/test_states.py
index 94c76ab9..70d6b39b 100644
--- a/instances/tests/test_states.py
+++ b/instances/tests/test_states.py
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ class StateTests(TestCase):
 
 
     def test_the_list_offers_each_state_and_marks_each_row_and_host(self):
-        # static/js/instance_filter.js filters by these (test_instance_filter_js)
+        # static/js/table_filter.js filters by these (test_table_filter_js)
         AppSettings.objects.filter(key="VIEW_INSTANCES_LIST_STYLE").update(value="grouped")
         page = html.fromstring(self.get(self.admin, reverse("instances:index")))
         options = page.xpath("//select[@id='state-filter']/option/text()")
diff --git a/instances/tests/test_instance_filter_js.py b/instances/tests/test_table_filter_js.py
similarity index 53%
rename from instances/tests/test_instance_filter_js.py
rename to instances/tests/test_table_filter_js.py
index 90621652..39542cc4 100644
--- a/instances/tests/test_instance_filter_js.py
+++ b/instances/tests/test_table_filter_js.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-"""The instance list's search box and state list (static/js/instance_filter.js).
-Its behaviour is checked with Node."""
+"""The search box of the list pages, with the instance list's state list
+(static/js/table_filter.js). Its behaviour is checked with Node."""
 
 import shutil
 import subprocess
@@ -11,11 +11,11 @@ from django.conf import settings
 BASE = Path(settings.BASE_DIR)
 
 
-class InstanceFilterTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+class TableFilterTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
     @unittest.skipUnless(shutil.which("node"), "node is not installed")
-    def test_instance_filter_js(self):
+    def test_table_filter_js(self):
         result = subprocess.run(
-            ["node", str(BASE / "instances/tests/js/instance_filter.test.js"), str(BASE / "static/js/instance_filter.js")],
+            ["node", str(BASE / "instances/tests/js/table_filter.test.js"), str(BASE / "static/js/table_filter.js")],
             capture_output=True,
             text=True,
             timeout=60,
diff --git a/nwfilters/templates/nwfilters.html b/nwfilters/templates/nwfilters.html
index 3863c444..2aaeb655 100644
--- a/nwfilters/templates/nwfilters.html
+++ b/nwfilters/templates/nwfilters.html
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@
 {% endblock %}
 
 {% block script %}
-<script src="{% static 'js/filter-table.js' %}"></script>
+<script src="{% static 'js/table_filter.js' %}"></script>
 <script src="{% static 'js/ace/ace.js' %}"></script>
 <script>
     var editor = ace.edit("editor");
diff --git a/static/js/filter-table.js b/static/js/filter-table.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 300a9895..00000000
--- a/static/js/filter-table.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-function filter_table() {
-    var rex = new RegExp($(this).val(), 'i');
-    $('.searchable tr').hide();
-    $('.searchable tr').filter(function () {
-        return rex.test($(this).text());
-    }).show();
-    Cookies.set(document.title + "_filter", $(this).val(), { expires: 1 });
-}
-$(document).ready(function () {
-    filter_cookie = Cookies.get(document.title + "_filter");
-    if (filter_cookie) {
-        $('#filter').val(filter_cookie);
-        $('#filter').each(filter_table);
-    }
-    (function ($) {
-        $('#filter').keyup(filter_table)
-    }(jQuery));
-});
diff --git a/static/js/instance_filter.js b/static/js/table_filter.js
similarity index 50%
rename from static/js/instance_filter.js
rename to static/js/table_filter.js
index 4201907c..49056bba 100644
--- a/static/js/instance_filter.js
+++ b/static/js/table_filter.js
@@ -1,22 +1,25 @@
-// The instance list's search box and state list.
+// The search box of a list page, and the instance list's state list.
 //
-// A VM row shows when its text contains the search, in any case, and the VM is
-// in the chosen state. In the grouped list a search for a host's name shows
-// all of its VMs, and the host's row shows while any of its VMs does.
-function filterInstances(doc) {
+// A row shows when its text contains the search, in any case: plain text,
+// not a pattern. With a state list, the row's [data-state] must be the
+// chosen state too. In a grouped list a search for a group's host shows all
+// of its rows, and its header row (data-group-header) shows while any of its
+// rows does. The search is remembered for a day, per page.
+function filterTable(doc) {
     var text = doc.getElementById("filter").value.toLowerCase();
-    var state = doc.getElementById("state-filter").value;
+    var states = doc.getElementById("state-filter");
+    var state = states ? states.value : "";
     doc.querySelectorAll(".searchable").forEach(function (group) {
         var host = group.dataset.host;
         var hostMatches = host !== undefined && host.toLowerCase().includes(text);
         var header = null, shown = false;
         group.querySelectorAll("tr").forEach(function (row) {
-            var mark = row.querySelector("[data-state]");
-            if (!mark) {
+            if (row.hasAttribute("data-group-header")) {
                 header = row;
                 return;
             }
-            row.hidden = !((!state || mark.dataset.state === state) &&
+            var mark = row.querySelector("[data-state]");
+            row.hidden = !((!state || (mark && mark.dataset.state === state)) &&
                 (hostMatches || row.textContent.toLowerCase().includes(text)));
             shown = shown || !row.hidden;
         });
@@ -27,17 +30,19 @@ function filterInstances(doc) {
 }
 
 if (typeof module !== "undefined") {
-    module.exports = {filterInstances: filterInstances};
+    module.exports = {filterTable: filterTable};
 } else {
-    // the search is remembered for a day, as on the other lists
     var search = document.getElementById("filter");
+    var states = document.getElementById("state-filter");
     search.value = Cookies.get(document.title + "_filter") || "";
     search.addEventListener("input", function () {
         Cookies.set(document.title + "_filter", search.value, {expires: 1});
-        filterInstances(document);
+        filterTable(document);
     });
-    document.getElementById("state-filter").addEventListener("change", function () {
-        filterInstances(document);
-    });
-    filterInstances(document);
+    if (states) {
+        states.addEventListener("change", function () {
+            filterTable(document);
+        });
+    }
+    filterTable(document);
 }
diff --git a/storages/templates/storage.html b/storages/templates/storage.html
index d3ee5013..bf5839cb 100644
--- a/storages/templates/storage.html
+++ b/storages/templates/storage.html
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@
 {% block script %}
     <script src="{% static 'js/poll.js' %}"></script>
     {% job_panel_script job_resource %}
-    <script src="{% static 'js/filter-table.js' %}"></script>
+    <script src="{% static 'js/table_filter.js' %}"></script>
     <script>
         $('.format-convert').hide();
         $(document).on('change', '.volume-convert', function () {