diff --git a/docs/api.rst b/docs/api.rst
index 104d6fe3a..5f934baef 100644
--- a/docs/api.rst
+++ b/docs/api.rst
@@ -57,6 +57,18 @@ Plotting
     pl.extract
     pl.var_by_distance
 
+Preprocessing
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+.. module:: squidpy.pp
+.. currentmodule:: squidpy
+
+.. autosummary::
+    :toctree: api
+
+    pp.filter_cells
+    
+
 Reading
 ~~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/docs/notebooks b/docs/notebooks
index 0b092a258..296295a16 160000
--- a/docs/notebooks
+++ b/docs/notebooks
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 0b092a2580c823e296c30c9321a5a411f9fa91da
+Subproject commit 296295a1682ad0f06757fe532a631803fad05c87
diff --git a/src/squidpy/__init__.py b/src/squidpy/__init__.py
index 5fb2b848a..d52a64cbd 100644
--- a/src/squidpy/__init__.py
+++ b/src/squidpy/__init__.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 from importlib import metadata
 from importlib.metadata import PackageMetadata
 
-from squidpy import datasets, gr, im, pl, read, tl
+from squidpy import datasets, gr, im, pl, pp, read, tl
 
 try:
     md: PackageMetadata = metadata.metadata(__name__)
diff --git a/src/squidpy/pp/__init__.py b/src/squidpy/pp/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..26edb04a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/squidpy/pp/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+"""Basic pre-processing functions adapted from scanpy."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from squidpy.pp._simple import filter_cells
diff --git a/src/squidpy/pp/_simple.py b/src/squidpy/pp/_simple.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..90f1d2b09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/squidpy/pp/_simple.py
@@ -0,0 +1,197 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import geopandas as gpd
+import numpy as np
+import scanpy as sc
+import spatialdata as sd
+from dask.dataframe import DataFrame as DaskDataFrame
+from spatialdata import SpatialData, subset_sdata_by_table_mask
+from spatialdata._logging import logger as logg
+from spatialdata.models import (
+    get_table_keys,
+    points_dask_dataframe_to_geopandas,
+    points_geopandas_to_dask_dataframe,
+)
+
+
+def filter_cells(
+    data: sd.SpatialData,
+    tables: list[str] | str | None = None,
+    min_counts: int | None = None,
+    min_genes: int | None = None,
+    max_counts: int | None = None,
+    max_genes: int | None = None,
+    inplace: bool = True,
+    filter_labels: bool = True,
+) -> sd.SpatialData | None:
+    """\
+    Squidpy's implementation of :func:`scanpy.pp.filter_cells` for :class:`anndata.AnnData` and :class:`spatialdata.SpatialData` objects.
+    For :class:`spatialdata.SpatialData` objects, this function filters the following elements:
+
+
+    - labels: filtered based on the values of the images which are assumed to be the instance_id.
+    - points: filtered based on the index which is assumed to be the instance_id.
+    - shapes: filtered based on the instance_id column.
+
+
+    See :func:`scanpy.pp.filter_cells` for more details regarding the filtering
+    behavior.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    data
+        :class:`spatialdata.SpatialData` object.
+    tables
+        If :class:`spatialdata.SpatialData` object, the tables to filter. If `None`, all tables are filtered.
+    min_counts
+        Minimum number of counts required for a cell to pass filtering.
+    min_genes
+        Minimum number of genes expressed required for a cell to pass filtering.
+    max_counts
+        Maximum number of counts required for a cell to pass filtering.
+    max_genes
+        Maximum number of genes expressed required for a cell to pass filtering.
+    inplace
+        Perform computation inplace or return result.
+    filter_labels
+        Whether to filter labels. If `True`, then labels are filtered based on the instance_id column.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    If `inplace` then returns `None`, otherwise returns the filtered :class:`spatialdata.SpatialData` object.
+    """
+    if not isinstance(data, sd.SpatialData):
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"Expected `SpatialData`, found `{type(data)}` instead. Perhaps you want to use `scanpy.pp.filter_cells` instead."
+        )
+
+    return _filter_cells_spatialdata(data, tables, min_counts, min_genes, max_counts, max_genes, inplace, filter_labels)
+
+
+def _get_only_annotated_shape(sdata: sd.SpatialData, table_name: str) -> str | None:
+    table = sdata.tables[table_name]
+
+    # only one shape needs to be annotated to filter points within it
+    # other annotations can't be points
+
+    regions, _, _ = get_table_keys(table)
+    if len(regions) == 0:
+        return None
+
+    if isinstance(regions, str):
+        regions = [regions]
+
+    res = None
+    for r in regions:
+        if r in sdata.points:
+            return None
+        if r in sdata.shapes:
+            if res is not None:
+                return None
+            res = r
+
+    return res
+
+
+def _annotated_points_by_shape_membership(
+    sdata: SpatialData,
+    point_key: str,
+    shape_key: str,
+) -> DaskDataFrame:
+    """Annotate points by shape membership.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    sdata
+        The SpatialData object to annotate.
+    point_key
+        The key of the points to annotate.
+    shape_key
+        The key of the shapes to annotate.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    The annotated points.
+    """
+    points = sdata.points[point_key]
+    shapes = sdata.shapes[shape_key]
+    points_gdf = points_dask_dataframe_to_geopandas(points)
+    res = points_gdf.sjoin(shapes, how="left", predicate="within")
+    return points_geopandas_to_dask_dataframe(res)
+
+
+def _filter_cells_spatialdata(
+    data: sd.SpatialData,
+    tables: list[str] | str | None = None,
+    min_counts: int | None = None,
+    min_genes: int | None = None,
+    max_counts: int | None = None,
+    max_genes: int | None = None,
+    inplace: bool = True,
+    filter_labels: bool = True,
+) -> sd.SpatialData | None:
+    if isinstance(tables, str):
+        tables = [tables]
+    elif tables is None:
+        tables = list(data.tables.keys())
+
+    if len(tables) == 0:
+        raise ValueError("Expected at least one table to be filtered, found `0`")
+
+    if not all(t in data.tables for t in tables):
+        raise ValueError(f"Expected all tables to be in `{data.tables.keys()}`.")
+
+    for t in tables:
+        if "spatialdata_attrs" not in data.tables[t].uns:
+            raise ValueError(f"Table `{t}` does not have 'spatialdata_attrs' to indicate what it annotates.")
+
+    if not inplace:
+        logg.warning(
+            "Creating a deepcopy of the SpatialData object, depending on the size of the object this can take a while."
+        )
+        data_out = sd.deepcopy(data)
+    else:
+        data_out = data
+
+    for t in tables:
+        table_old = data_out.tables[t]
+        mask_filtered, _ = sc.pp.filter_cells(
+            table_old,
+            min_counts=min_counts,
+            min_genes=min_genes,
+            max_counts=max_counts,
+            max_genes=max_genes,
+            inplace=False,
+        )
+        if mask_filtered.sum() == 0:
+            raise ValueError(f"Filter results in empty table when filtering table `{t}`.")
+        sdata_filtered = subset_sdata_by_table_mask(sdata=data_out, table_name=t, mask=mask_filtered)
+        data_out.tables[t] = sdata_filtered.tables[t]
+        for k in list(sdata_filtered.points.keys()):
+            data_out.points[k] = sdata_filtered.points[k]
+        for k in list(sdata_filtered.shapes.keys()):
+            data_out.shapes[k] = sdata_filtered.shapes[k]
+        if filter_labels:
+            for k in list(sdata_filtered.labels.keys()):
+                data_out.labels[k] = sdata_filtered.labels[k]
+        shape_name = _get_only_annotated_shape(data_out, t)
+        if shape_name is not None:
+            for p in data_out.points:
+                _, _, instance_key = get_table_keys(table_old)
+                shape_index_name = data_out.shapes[shape_name].index.name
+                new_points = _annotated_points_by_shape_membership(
+                    sdata=data_out,
+                    shape_key=shape_name,
+                    point_key=p,
+                )
+                shape_index_name += "_right"
+                removed_instance_ids = list(np.unique(table_old.obs[instance_key][~mask_filtered]))
+                # drop points that are not in any shape
+                new_points = new_points.dropna()
+                # drop points that are in the removed_instance_ids
+                new_points = new_points[~new_points[shape_index_name].isin(removed_instance_ids)]
+                data_out.points[p] = new_points
+
+    if inplace:
+        return None
+    return data_out
diff --git a/tests/preprocessing/test_simple.py b/tests/preprocessing/test_simple.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..82daaf9bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/preprocessing/test_simple.py
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import anndata as ad
+import numpy as np
+import pytest
+import scanpy as sc
+from spatialdata.datasets import blobs_annotating_element
+
+import squidpy as sq
+
+
+def _make_sdata(name: str, num_counts: int, count_value: int):
+    assert num_counts <= 5, "num_counts must be less than 5"
+    sdata_temp = blobs_annotating_element(name)
+    m, _ = sdata_temp.tables["table"].shape
+    n = m
+    X = np.zeros((m, n))
+    # random choice of row
+    row_indices = np.random.choice(m, num_counts, replace=False)
+    col_indices = np.random.choice(n, num_counts, replace=False)
+    X[row_indices, col_indices] = count_value
+
+    sdata_temp.tables["table"] = ad.AnnData(
+        X=X,
+        obs=sdata_temp.tables["table"].obs,
+        var={"gene": ["gene" for _ in range(n)]},
+        uns=sdata_temp.tables["table"].uns,
+    )
+    return sdata_temp
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("name", ["blobs_labels", "blobs_circles", "blobs_points", "blobs_multiscale_labels"])
+def test_filter_cells(name: str):
+    filtered_cells = 3
+    sdata = _make_sdata(name, num_counts=filtered_cells, count_value=100)
+    num_cells = sdata.tables["table"].shape[0]
+    adata_copy = sdata.tables["table"].copy()
+    sc.pp.filter_cells(adata_copy, max_counts=50, inplace=True)
+    sq.pp.filter_cells(sdata, max_counts=50, inplace=True, filter_labels=True)
+
+    assert np.all(sdata.tables["table"].X == adata_copy.X), "Filtered cells are not the same as scanpy"
+    assert np.all(sdata.tables["table"].obs["instance_id"] == adata_copy.obs["instance_id"]), (
+        "Filtered cells are not the same as scanpy"
+    )
+    assert sdata.tables["table"].shape[0] == (num_cells - filtered_cells), (
+        f"Expected {num_cells - filtered_cells} cells, got {sdata.tables['table'].shape[0]}"
+    )
+
+    if name == "blobs_labels":
+        unique_labels = np.unique(adata_copy.obs["instance_id"])
+        unique_labels_sdata = np.unique(sdata.labels["blobs_labels"].data.compute())
+        assert set(unique_labels) == set(unique_labels_sdata).difference([0]), (
+            f"Filtered labels {unique_labels} are not the same as scanpy {unique_labels_sdata}"
+        )
+
+
+def test_filter_cells_empty_fail():
+    sdata = _make_sdata("blobs_labels", num_counts=5, count_value=200)
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="Filter results in empty table when filtering table `table`."):
+        sq.pp.filter_cells(sdata, max_counts=100, inplace=True)
diff --git a/tests/utils/test_parallelize.py b/tests/utils/test_parallelize.py
index 88922b526..1b30b63ef 100644
--- a/tests/utils/test_parallelize.py
+++ b/tests/utils/test_parallelize.py
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ def func(request) -> Callable:
 # in case of failure.
 
 
-@pytest.mark.timeout(30)
+@pytest.mark.timeout(50)
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "backend",
     [