How to do sorting in excel

When sorting information in a worksheet, you can rearrange the data to find values quickly. You can sort a range or table of data on one or more columns of data. For example, you can sort employees —first by department, and then by last name.

How to sort in Excel?

Select the data to sort     Select a range of tabular data, such as A1:L5 (multiple rows and columns) or C1:C80 (a single column). The range can include the first row of headings that identify each column.

Sort quickly and easily     Select a single cell in the column you want to sort. On the Data tab, in the Sort & Filter group, click to perform an ascending sort (from A to Z, or smallest number to largest). Click to perform a descending sort (from Z to A, or largest number to smallest).

Sort by specifying criteria     Use this technique to choose the column you want to sort, together with other criteria such as font or cell colors. Select a single cell anywhere in the range that you want to sort. On the Data tab, in the Sort & Filter group, click Sort to display the Sort popup window. In the Sort by dropdown list, select the first column on which you want to sort. In the Sort On list, choose Values, Cell Color, Font Color, or Cell Icon. In the Order list, choose the order that you want to apply to the sort operation—alphabetically or numerically, ascending or descending (that is, from A to Z (or Z to A) for text, or lower to higher, or higher to lower for numbers).

When it comes to Excel, here’s a good rule to live by: If you find yourself doing something manually, there’s probably an easier way.

Whether you’re trying to remove duplicates, do simple calculations, or sort your data, you can almost always find a workaround that’ll help you get it done with just a click (or two) of a button.

But if you’re not a power user, it’s easy to overlook these shortcuts. And before you know it, something as simple as organizing a list of names in alphabetical order can suck up a ton of your time.

Luckily, there is a workaround for that. In fact, there are a few different ways to use Excel’s sorting feature that you may not know about. Let’s check them out below, starting with the basics.

For this first set of instructions, we’ll be using Microsoft Excel 2017 for Mac. But don’t worry — while the location of certain buttons might be different, the icons and selections you have to make are the same across most earlier versions of Excel.

1. Highlight the rows and/or columns you want sorted.

To sort a range of cells in Excel, first click and drag your cursor across your spreadsheet to highlight all of the cells you want to sort — even those rows and columns whose values you’re not actually sorting by.

For example, if you want to sort column A, but there’s data associated with column A in columns B and C, it’s important to highlight all three columns to ensure the values in Columns B and C move along with the cells you’re sorting in Column A.

In the screenshot below, we’re going to sort this sheet by the last name of Harry Potter characters. But the first name and house of each person needs to go with each last name that gets sorted, or each column will become mismatched when we finish sorting.

2. Navigate to ‘Data’ along the top and select ‘Sort.’

Once all the data you want to sort is highlighted, select the «Data» tab along the top navigation bar (you can see this button on the top-right of the screenshot in the first step, above). This tab will expand a new set of options beneath it, where you can select the «Sort» button. The icon has an «A-Z» graphic on it, as you can see below, but you’ll be able to sort in more ways than just alphabetically.

3. If sorting by column, select the column you want to order your sheet by.

When you hit the «Sort» button, shown above, a window of settings will appear. This is where you can configure what you’d like sorted and how you’d like to sort it.

If you’re sorting by a specific column, click «Column» — the leftmost dropdown menu, shown below — and select the column whose values you want to be your sorting criteria. In our case, it’ll be «Last Name.»

4. If sorting by row, click ‘Options’ and select ‘Sort left to right.’

If you’d rather sort by a specific row, rather than a column, click «Options» on the bottom of the window and select «Sort left to right.» Once you do this, the Sort settings window will reset and ask you to choose the specific «Row» you’d like to sort by in the leftmost dropdown (where it currently says «Column»).

This sorting system doesn’t quite make sense for our example, so we’ll stick with sorting by the «Last Name» column.

5. Choose what you’d like sorted.

You don’t just have to sort by the value of each cell. In the middle column of your Sort settings window, you’ll see a dropdown menu called «Sort On.» Click it, and you can choose to sort your sheet by different characteristics of each cell in the column/row you’re sorting by. These options include cell color, font color, or any icon included in the cell.

6. Choose how you’d like to order your sheet.

In the third section of your Sort settings’ window, you’ll see a dropdown bar called «Order.» Click it to select how you’d like to order your spreadsheet.

By default, your Sort settings window will suggest sorting alphabetically (which we’ll show you shortcuts for in the next process below). But you can also sort from Z to A, as well as by a custom list. While you can create your own custom list, there are a few preset lists you can sort your data by right away. We’ll talk more about how and why you might sort by custom list in a few minutes.

To Sort by Number

If your spreadsheet includes a column of numbers, rather than letter-based values, you can also sort your sheet by these numbers. To do that, you’ll select this column in the leftmost «Columns» dropdown menu. This will change the options in the «Order» dropdown bar so that you can sort from «Smallest to Largest» or «Largest to Smallest.»

7. Click ‘OK.’

Click «OK,» in your Sort settings window, and you should see your list successfully sorted according to your desired criteria. Here’s what our Harry Potter list now looks like, organized by last name in alphabetical order:

Sometimes you may have a list of data that has no organization whatsoever. Maybe you exported a list of your marketing contacts or blog posts. Whatever the case may be, you might want to start by alphabetizing the list — and there’s an easy way to do this that doesn’t require you to follow each step outlined above.

To Alphabetize on a Mac

1. Select a cell in the column you want to sort.
2. Click on the «Data» tab in your toolbar and look for the «Sort» option on the left.
3. If the «A» is on top of the «Z,» you can just click on that button once. If the «Z» is on top of the «A,» click on the button twice. Note: When the «A» is on top of the «Z,» that means your list will be sorted in alphabetical order. However, when the «Z» is on top of the «A,» that means your list will be sorted in reverse alphabetical order.

To Alphabetize on a PC

1. Select a cell in the column you want to sort.
2. Click on the «Data» tab in your toolbar. You will see Sort options in the middle.
3. Click on the icon above the word «Sort.» A pop-up will appear: If you have headers, make sure «My list has headers» is checked. If it is, click «Cancel.»
4. Click on the button that has the «A» on top and the «Z» on the bottom with an arrow pointing down. That will sort your list alphabetically from «A» to «Z.» If you want to sort your list in reverse alphabetical order, click on the button that has the «Z» on top and the «A» on the bottom.

Sorting Multiple Columns

Sometimes you don’t just want to sort one column, but you want to sort two. Let’s say you want to organize all of your blog posts that you have in a list by the month they were published. First, you’d want to organize them by date, and then by the blog post title or URL.

In this example, I want to sort my list first by house, and then by last name. This would give me a list organized by each house, but also alphabetized within each house.

To Sort Multiple Columns on a Mac

1. Click on the data in the column you want to sort.
2. Click on the «Data» tab in your toolbar and look for the «Sort» option on the left.
3. Click on the small arrow to the left of the «A to Z» Sort icon. Then, select «Custom Sort» from the menu.
4. A pop-up will appear: If you have headers, make sure «My list has headers» is checked.
5. You will see five columns. Under «Column» select the first column you want to sort from the dropdown menu. (In this case, it is «House.»)
6. Then, click on the «+» sign at the bottom left of the pop-up. Under where it says «Column,» select «Last Name» from the dropdown.
7. Check the «Order» column to make sure it says A to Z. Then click «OK.»
8. Marvel at your beautiful organized list.

To Sort Multiple Columns on a PC

1. Click on the data in the column you want to sort.
2. Click on the «Data» tab in your toolbar. You will see «Sort» options in the middle.
3. Click on the icon above the word «Sort.» You will see a pop-up appear. Make sure «My data has headers» is checked if you have column headers.
4. You will see three columns. Under «Column» select the first column you want to sort from the dropdown menu. (In this case, it is «House.»)
5. Then click on «Add Level» at the top left of the pop-up. Under where it says «Column» select «Last Name» from the dropdown.
6. Check the «Order» column to make sure it says A to Z. Then click «OK.»
7. Marvel at your beautiful organized list.

Sorting in Custom Order

Sometimes you don’t want to sort by A to Z or Z to A. Sometimes you want to sort by something else, such as months, days of the week, or some other organizational system.

In situations like this, you can create your own custom order to specify exactly the order you want the sort. (It follows a similar path to multiple columns but is slightly different.)

Let’s say we have everyone’s birthday month at Hogwarts, and we want everyone to be sorted first by Birthday Month, then by House, and then by Last Name.

To Sort in Custom Order on a Mac

1. Click on the data in the column you want to sort.
2. Click on the «Data» tab in your toolbar. You will see «Sort» all the way to the left.
3. Click on the small arrow to the left of the «A to Z» Sort icon. Then, select «Custom Sort» from the menu.
4. A pop-up will appear: If you have headers, make sure «My list has headers» is checked.
5. You will see five columns. Under «Column,» select the first column in your spreadsheet you want to sort from the dropdown menu. In this case, it is «Birthday Month.»
6. Under the «Order» column, click on the dropdown next to «A to Z.» Select the option for «Custom List.»
7. You will see a couple of options (month and day). Select the month list where the months are spelled out, as that matches the data. Click «OK.»
8. Then click on the «+» sign at the bottom left of the pop-up. Under «Column,» select «House» from the dropdown.
9. Click on the «+» sign at the bottom left again. Under «Column,» select «Last Name» from the dropdown.
10. Check the «Order» column to make sure «House» and «Last Name» say A to Z. Then click «OK.»
11. Marvel at your beautiful organized list.

To Sort in Custom Order on a PC

1. Click on the data in the column you want to sort.
2. Click on the «Data» tab in your toolbar. You will see «Sort» options in the middle.
3. Click on the icon above the word «Sort.» You will see a pop-up appear: If you have headers, make sure «My list has headers» is checked.
4. You will see three columns. Under «Column,» select the first column you want to sort from the dropdown. In this case, it is «Birthday Month.»
5. Under the «Order» column, click on the dropdown next to «A to Z.» Select the option for «Custom List.»
6. You will see a couple of options (month and day), as well as the option to create your own custom order. Select the month list where the months are spelled out, as that matches the data. Click «OK.»
7. Then, click on «Add Level» at the top left of the pop-up. Under «Column,» select «House» from the dropdown.
8. Click on the «Add Level» button at the top left of the pop-up again. Under «Column,» select «Last Name» from the dropdown.
9. Check the «Order» column to make sure «House» and «Last Name» say A to Z. Then click «OK.»
10. Marvel at your beautiful organized list.

Sorting a Row

Sometimes your data may appear in rows instead of columns. When that happens you are still able to sort your data with a slightly different step.

To Sort a Row on a Mac

1. Click on the data in the row you want to sort.
2. Click on the «Data» tab in your toolbar. You will see «Sort» all the way to the left.
3. Click on the small arrow to the left of the «A to Z» Sort icon. Then, select «Custom Sort» from the menu.
4. A pop-up will appear: Click on «Options» at the bottom.
5. Under «Orientation» select «Sort left to right.» Then, click «OK.»
6. You will see five columns. Under «Row,» select the row number that you want to sort from the dropdown. (In this case, it is Row 1.) When you are done, click «OK.»

To Sort a Row on a PC

1. Click on the data in the row you want to sort.
2. Click on the «Data» tab in your toolbar. You will see «Sort» options in the middle.
3. Click on the icon above the word «Sort.» You will see a pop-up appear.
4. Click on «Options» at the bottom.
5. Under «Orientation» select «Sort left to right.» Then, click «OK.»
6. You will see three columns. Under «Row,» select the row number that you want to sort from the dropdown. (In this case, it is Row 1.) When you are done, click «OK.»

Sort Your Conditional Formatting

If you use conditional formatting to change the color of a cell, add an icon, or change the color of a font, you can actually sort by that, too.

In the example below, I’ve used colors to signify different grade ranges: If they have a 90 or above, the cell appears green. Between 80-90 is yellow. Below 80 is red. Here’s how you’d sort that information to put the top performers at the top of the list. I want to sort this information so that the top performers are at the top of the list.

To Sort Conditional Formatting on a Mac

1. Click on the data in the row you want to sort.
2. Click on the «Data» tab in your toolbar. You will see «Sort» all the way to the left.
3. Click on the small arrow to the left of the «A to Z» Sort icon. Then, select «Custom Sort» from the menu.
4. A pop-up will appear: If you have headers, make sure «My list has headers» is checked.
5. You will see five columns. Under «Column,» select the first column you want to sort from the dropdown. In this case, it is «Grades.»
6. Under the column that says «Sort On,» select «Cell Color».
7. In the last column that says «Color/Icon,» select the green bar.
8. Then click on the «+» sign at the bottom left of the pop-up. Repeat steps 5-6. Instead of selecting green under «Color/Icon,» select the yellow bar.
9. Then click on the «+» sign at the bottom left of the pop-up. Repeat steps 5-6. Instead of selecting green under «Color/Icon,» select the red bar.
10. Click «OK.»

To Sort Conditional Formatting on a PC

1. Click on the data in the row you want to sort.
2. Click on the «Data» tab in your toolbar. You will see «Sort» options in the middle.
3. Click on the icon above the word «Sort.» A pop-up will appear: If you have headers, make sure «My list has headers» is checked.
4. You will see three columns. Under «Column» select the first column you want to sort from the dropdown. In this case, it is «Grades.»
5. Under the column that says «Sort On,» select «Cell Color».
6. In the last column that says «Order,» select the green bar.
7. Click on «Add Level.» Repeat steps 4-5. Instead of selecting green under «Order,» select the yellow bar.
8. Click on «Add Level» again. Repeat steps 4-5. Instead of selecting yellow under «Order,» select the red bar.
9. Click «OK.»

There you have it — all the possible ways to sort in Excel. Ready to sort your next spreadsheet? Start by grabbing nine different Excel templates below, then use Excel’s sorting function to organize your data as you see fit.

Sorting data in Excel has been made quite easy with all the in-built options.

You can easily sort your data alphabetically, based on the value in the cells, or by cell and font color.

You can also do multi-level column sorting (i.e., sorting by column A and then by column B) as well as sorting rows (from left to right).

And if that was not enough, Excel also allows you to create your own custom lists and sort based on that too (how cool is that). So you can sort data based on shirt sizes (XL, L, M, S) or responses (strongly agree, agree, disagree) or intensity (high, medium, low)

Bottom line – there are just too many sorting options you have at your disposal when working with Excel.

And in this massive in-depth tutorial, I will show you all these sorting options and some cool examples where these can be useful.

Since this a huge tutorial with many topics, I am providing a table of content below. You can click on any of the topics and it will instantly take you there.

Accessing the Sorting Options in Excel

Since sorting is such a common thing needed when working with data, Excel provides a number of ways for you to access the sorting options.

Sorting Buttons in the Ribbon

The fastest way to access sorting options is by using the sorting buttons in the ribbons.

When you click on the Data tab in the ribbon, you will see the ‘Sort & Filter’ options. The three buttons on the left in this group is for sorting the data.

The two small buttons allow you to sort your data as soon as you click on these.

For example, if you have a data set of names, you can just select the entire dataset and click on any of the two buttons to sort the data. The A to Z button sorts the data alphabetically lowest to highest and the Z to A button sorts the data alphabetically highest to lowest.

This buttons also work with numbers, dates or times.

Personally, I never use these buttons as these are limited in what these can do, and there are more chances of errors when using these. But in case you need a quick sort (where there are no blank cells in the dataset), these can be a fast way to do it.

Sorting Dialog Box

In the Data tab in the ribbon, there is another Sort button icon within the sorting group.

When you click this Sort button icon, it opens the sorting dialog box (something as shown below).

Sorting dialog is the most complete solution for sorting in Excel. All the sorting related options can be accessed through this dialog box.

All the other methods of using sorting options are limited and don’t offer full functionality.

This is the reason I always prefer using the dialog box when I have to sort in Excel.

A major reason for my preference is that there is very less chance of you going wrong when using the dialog box. Everything is well structured and marked (unlike buttons in the ribbon where you may get confused which one to use).

In this tutorial, you’ll find me mostly using the dialog box to sort the data. This is also because some of the things I cover in certain sections (such as multi-level sorting or sorting from left-to-right) can only be done using the dialog box.

Keyboard Shortcut – If you need to sort data often in Excel, I recommend you learn the keyboard shortcut to open the sort dialog box. It’s ALT + A + S + S

Sorting Options in the Filter Menu

If you have applied filters to your dataset, you can also find the sorting options along with the filter options. A filter can be applied by selecting any cell in the dataset, clicking on the Data tab and clicking in the Filter icon.

Suppose you have a dataset as shown below and you have the filter applied.

When you click on the filter icon for any column (it’s the small downward pointing triangle icon at the right of the column header cell), you’ll see some of the sorting options there as well.

Note that these sorting options change based on the data in the column. So if you have text, it will show you the option to sort from A to Z or Z to A, but if you have numbers, it will show you options to sort from largest to smallest or smallest to largest.

Right-click options

Apart from using the dialog box, using right-click is another method that I sometimes use (it’s also super fast as it only takes two clicks).

When you have a dataset that you want to sort, right-click on any cell and it will show you the sorting options.

Note that you see some options that you don’t see in the ribbon or in the Filter options. While there is the usual sort by value and custom sort option (which opens the Sort dialog box), you can also see options such as Put selected Cell color/Font color/Formatting icon on the top.

I find this option quite useful as it allows me to quickly get all the colored cells (or cells with a different font color) together at the top. I often have the monthly expense data that I go through and highlight some cells manually. I can then use this option to quickly get all these cells together at the top.

Now that I have covered all the ways to access sorting options in Excel, let’s see how to use these to sort data in different scenarios.

Also read: How to Undo Sort in Excel (Revert to Original)

Sorting Data in Excel (Text, Numbers, Dates)

Caveat: Most of the times, sorting works even when you select a single cell in the dataset. But in some cases, you may end up with issues (when you have blank cells/rows/columns in your dataset). When sorting data, it’s best to select the entire data set and then sort it – just to avoid any chance of issues.

Based on the type of data you have, you can use the sorting options in Excel.

Sorting by Text

Suppose you have a dataset as shown below and you want to sort all these records based on the name of the student in alphabetical order.

Below are the steps to sort this text data in alphabetical order:

1. Select the entire dataset
2. Click the Data tab
3. Click the Sort icon. This will open the Sort dialog box.
4. In the Sort dialog box, make sure my data has headers is selected. In case your data doesn’t have headers, you can uncheck this.
5. In the ‘Sort by’ drop-down, select ‘Name’
6. In the ‘Sort On’ drop-down, make sure ‘Cell Values’ is selected
7. In the Order drop-down, select A-Z
8. Click OK.

The above steps would sort the entire dataset and give the result as shown below.

Why not just use the buttons in the ribbon?

The above method of sorting data in Excel may look like a lot of steps, as compared to just clicking the sort icon in the ribbon.

And this is true.

The above method is longer, but there is no chance of any error.

When you use the sort buttons in the ribbon, there are a few things that can go wrong (and this could be hard to spot when you have a large data set.

While I discuss the drawbacks of using the buttons later in this tutorial, let me quickly show you what can go wrong.

In the below example, since Excel cannot recognize that there is a header row, it sorts the entire dataset, including the header.

This issue is avoided with the sort dialog box as it explicitly gives you the option to specify whether your data has headers or not.

Since using the Sort dialog box eliminates chances of errors, I recommend you use it instead of all the other sorting methods in Excel

Sorting by Numbers

Now, I am assuming you have already gotten a hang of how text sorting works (covered above this section).

The other types of sorting (such as based on numbers or dates or color) is going to use almost the same steps with minor variations.

Suppose you have a dataset as shown below and you want to sort this data based on the marks scored by each student.

Below are the steps to sort this data based on numbers:

1. Select the entire dataset
2. Click the Data tab
3. Click the Sort icon. This will open the Sort dialog box.
4. In the Sort dialog box, make sure my data has headers is selected. In case your data doesn’t have headers, you can uncheck this.
5. In the ‘Sort by’ drop-down, select ‘Name’
6. In the ‘Sort On’ drop-down, make sure ‘Cell Values’ is selected
7. In the Order drop-down, select ‘Largest to Smallest’
8. Click OK.

The above steps would sort the entire dataset and give the result as shown below.

Sorting by Date/Time

While the date and time may look different, they are nothing but numbers.

For example, in Excel, the number 44196 would be the date value for 31 December 2020. You can format this number to look like a date, but in the backend in Excel, it still remains a number.

This also allows you to treat dates as numbers. So you can add 10 to a cell with date, and it will give you the number for the date 10 days later.

And the same goes for the time in Excel.

For example, the number 44196.125 represents 3 AM on 31st December 2020. While the integer part of the number represents a full day, the decimal part would give you the time.

And since both date and time are numbers, you can sort these like numbers.

Suppose you have a dataset as shown below and you want to sort this data based on the project submission date.

Below are the steps to sort this data based on the dates:

1. Select the entire dataset
2. Click the Data tab
3. Click the Sort icon. This will open the Sort dialog box.
4. In the Sort dialog box, make sure my data has headers is selected. In case your data doesn’t have headers, you can uncheck this.
5. In the ‘Sort by’ drop-down, select ‘Submission Date’
6. In the ‘Sort On’ drop-down, make sure ‘Cell Values’ is selected
7. In the Order drop-down, select ‘Oldest to Newest’
8. Click OK.

The above steps would sort the entire dataset and give the result as shown below.

Note that while date and time are numbers, Excel still recognized that these are different in the way it’s displayed. So when you sort by date, it shows ‘Oldest to Newest’ and ‘Newest to Oldest’ sorting criteria, but when you use numbers, it shows ‘Largest to Smallest’ or ‘Smallest to Largest’. Such small things that makes Excel an awesome spreadsheet tool (PS: Google Sheets doesn’t show so much detail, just the bland sort by A-Z or Z-A)

Sorting by Cell Color / Font Color

This option is amazing and I use it all the time (maybe a tad bit too much).

I often have data sets that I analyze manually and highlight cells while I am doing it. For example, I was going through a list of articles on this blog (which I have in an Excel sheet) and I highlighted the ones which I needed to improve.

And once I am done, I can quickly sort this data based on the cell colors. This helps me in getting all these highlighted cells/rows together at the top.

And to add to the awesomeness, you can sort based on multiple colors. So if I highlight cells with article names which need immediate attention in red and some which can be dealt with later with yellow, I can sort the data to show all the red rows first followed by the yellow.

If you’re interested in learning more, I recently wrote this article on sorting based on multiple colors. In this section, I will quickly show you how to sort based on one color only

Suppose you have a dataset as shown below and you want to sort by color and get all the red cells at the top.

Below are the steps to sort by color:

1. Select the entire dataset
2. Click the Data tab
3. Click the Sort icon. This will open the Sort dialog box.
4. In the Sort dialog box, make sure my data has headers is selected. In case your data doesn’t have headers, you can uncheck this.
5. In the ‘Sort by’ drop-down, select ‘Submission Date’ (or whatever column where you have the colored cells).Since in this example we have colored cells in all the columns, you can choose any.
6. In the ‘Sort On’ drop-down, select ‘Cell Color’.
7. In the Order drop-down, select the color with which you want to sort. In case you have multiple cell colors in the dataset, it will show you all those colors here
8. In the last drop-down, select ‘On Top’. This is where you specify whether you want the colored cells to be on the top of the dataset or at the bottom.
9. Click OK.

The above steps would sort your dataset by color and you will get the result as shown below.

Just as we have sorted this data based on the cell color, you can also do it based on the font color and conditional formatting icon.

Multiple Level Data Sorting

In reality, datasets are rarely as simple as the one that I am using in this tutorial.

Yours may extend to thousands of rows and hundreds of columns.

And when you have datasets so big, there is also a need for more data slice and dice. Multiple level data sorting is one of the things you may need when you have a large data set.

Multiple level data sorting means that you can sort the dataset based on values in one column and then sort it again based on values in another column(s).

For example, suppose you have the dataset as shown below and you want to sort this data based on two criteria:

1. The region
2. The sales

The output of this sorting based on the above two criteria will give you a dataset as shown below.

In the above example, we have the data first sorted by the regions and then within each region, the data is further sorted by the sales value.

This quickly allows us to see which sales reps are doing great in each region or which ones are doing poorly.

Below are the steps to sort the data based on multiple columns:

1. Select the entire data set that you want to sort.
2. Click the Data tab.
3. Click on the Sort Icon (the one shown below). This will open the Sort dialog box.
4. In the Sort dialog box, make sure my data has headers is selected. In case your data doesn’t have headers, you can uncheck this.
5. In the Sort Dialogue box, make the following selections
   • Sort by (Column): Region (this is the first level of sorting)
   • Sort On: Cell Values
   • Order: A to Z
6. Click on Add Level (this will add another level of sorting options).
7. In the second level of sorting, make the following selections:
   • Then by (Column): Sales
   • Sort On: Values
   • Order: Largest to Smallest
8. Click OK

Pro Tip: The Sort dialog box has a feature to ‘Copy Level’. This quickly copies the selected sorting level and then you can easily modify it. It’s good to know feature and may end up saving you time in case you have to sort based on multiple columns.

Below is a video where I show how to do a multi-level sorting in Excel:

Sorting Based on a Custom List

While Excel already has some common sorting criteria (such as sorting alphabetically with text, smallest to largest or largest to smallest with numbers, oldest to newest or newest to oldest with dates), it may not be enough.

To give you an example, suppose I have the following dataset:

Now, if I sort it based on the region alphabetically, I have two options – A to Z or Z to A. Below is what I get when I sort this data alphabetically from A to Z using the region column.

But what if I want this sort order to be East, West, North, South?

You, of course, can rearrange the data after sorting, but that’s not the efficient way to do this.

The right way to do this would be using custom lists.

A custom list is a list that Excel allows you to create and then use just like the inbuilt lists (such as month names or weekday names). Once you have created a custom list, you can use it in features such as data sorting or fill handle.

Some example where custom lists can be useful include:

• Sorting the data based on region/city name
• Sorting based on T-shirt sizes – Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large
• Sorting based on survey responses – Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree
• Sorting based on probability – high, medium, low

The first step in trying to sort based on the custom criteria is to create the custom list.

Steps to create a custom list in Excel:

1. Click the File tab
2. Click on Options
3. In the Excel Options Dialogue Box, select ‘Advanced’ from the list in the left pane.
4. Within Advanced selected, scroll down and select ‘Edit Custom List’.
5. In the Custom Lists dialogue box, type your criteria in the box titled List Entries. Type your criteria separated by comma (East, West, North, South) [you can also import your criteria if you have it listed].
6. Click Add
7. Click OK

Once you have completed the above steps, Excel will create and store a custom list that you can use for sorting data.

Note that the order of the items in the custom list is what determines how your list will be sorted.

When you create a custom list in one Excel workbook, it becomes available to all the workbooks in your system. So you only have to create it once and can reuse it in al workbooks.

Steps to sort using a custom list

Suppose you have the dataset as shown below and you want to sort it based on the regions (the sort order being East, West, North, and South)

Since we have already created a custom list, we can use it to sort our data.

Here are the steps to sort a dataset using a custom list:

1. Select the entire dataset
2. Click the Data tab
3. Click the Sort icon. This will open the Sort dialog box.
4. In the Sort dialog box, make sure my data has headers is selected. In case your data doesn’t have headers, you can uncheck this.
5. In the ‘Sort by’ drop-down, select ‘Region’ (or whatever column where you have the colored cells)
6. In the ‘Sort On’ drop-down, select ‘Cell Values’.
7. In the Order drop-down, select ‘Custom List’. As soon as you click on it, it will open the Custom Lists dialog box.
8. In the Custom Lists dialog box, select the custom list you have already created from the left pane.
9. Click OK. Once you do this, you will see the custom sort criteria in the sort order drop-down field
10. Click OK.

The above steps will sort your dataset based on the custom sort criteria.

Note: You don’t have to create a custom list before-hand to sort the data based on it. You can also create it while you’re in the Sort dialog box. When you click on Custom List (in step 7 above), it opens the custom list dialog box. You can create a custom list there as well.

Custom lists are not case sensitive. In case you want to do a case-sensitive sorting, refer to this example.

Also read: How to Sort by Length in Excel? Easy Formulas!

Sorting from Left to Right

While in most cases you’ll likely sort based on the column values, sometimes, you may also have a need to sort based on the row values.

For example, in the below dataset, I want to sort it based on the values in the Region row.

Although this type of data structure is not as common as the columnar data, I have still seen a lot of people working with this kind of construct.

Excel has an in-built functionality that allows you to sort from left to right.

Below are the steps to sort this data from left to right:

1. Select the entire dataset (except the headers)
2. Click the Data tab
3. Click the Sort icon. This will open the Sort dialog box.
4. In the Sort dialog box, click on Options.
5. In the Sort Options dialog box, select ‘Sort left to right’
6. Click OK.
7. In the ‘Sort By’ drop-down, select Row 1. By doing this, we are specifying that the sort needs to be done based on the values in Row 1
8. In the ‘Sort On’ drop-down, select ‘Cell Values’.
9. In the Order drop-down, select A-Z (you can also use custom sort list if you want)
10. Click OK.

The above steps would sort the data left to right based on Row 1 values.

Excel doesn’t recognize (or even allow you to specify) the headers when sorting from left to right. So you need to make sure your header cells are not selected when sorting the data. If you select headers cells as well, these will be sorted based on the value in it.

Note: Another way of sorting the data from right to left could be to transpose the data and get it in a columnar form. Once you have it, you can use any of the sorting methods covered so far. Once the sorting is done, you can then copy the resulting data and paste it as transposed data.

Below is a video where I show how to sort data from left to right in Excel

Case Sensitive Sorting in Excel

So far, in all the example above, the sorting has been case independent.

But what if you want to make the sorting case-sensitive.

Thankfully, Excel allows you to specify whether you want the sorting to be case-sensitive or not.

Note: While most of the times you don’t need to worry about case-sensitive sorting, this may be helpful when you get your data from a database such as Salesforce or you manually collate the data and have different people enter the same text in different cases. Having a case sensitive sort may help you keep all the records by the same person/database together.

Suppose you have a dataset as shown below and you want to sort this data based on the region column:

Below are the steps to sort data alphabetically as well as make it case sensitive:

1. Select the entire dataset
2. Click the Data tab
3. Click the Sort icon. This will open the Sort dialog box.
4. In the Sort dialog box, make sure my data has headers is selected. In case your data doesn’t have headers, you can uncheck this.
5. Click the Options button
6. In the Sort Options dialog box, check the ‘Case sensitive’ option
7. Click OK.
8. In the ‘Sort by’ drop-down, select ‘Region’
9. In the ‘Sort On’ drop-down, select ‘Cell Values’.
10. In the order drop-down, select A to Z
11. Click OK.

The above steps would not only sort the data alphabetically based on the region, but also make it case-sensitive.

You’ll get the resulting data as shown below:

When you sort from A to Z, lower case text is placed above the upper case text.

Getting the Original Sort Order

Often when sorting data in Excel, you may want to go back to the earlier or the original sort order and start afresh,

While you can use the undo functionality in Excel (using Control Z) to go back one step at a time, it may be confusing if you have already done multiple things after sorting the data.

Also, undo works only till you have the workbook open, but when you save and close and it and open it later, you won’t be able to go back to the original sort order.

Here are two simple ways to make sure you don’t lose the original sort order and get it back even after sorting the data:

1. Make a copy of the original dataset. This is something I recommend you do even if you don’t need the original sort order. You can have a workbook with all the data and then simply create a copy of the workbook and work on the copy. When I am working on critical datasets, I make a copy every day (with the date or version number as a part of the workbook name).
2. Add a column with a series of number. This series of numbers get all mixed up when you sort the data, but in case you want to go back to the original data, you can sort based in this series of numbers.

In this section, let me quickly show you what mean by adding a series and using it to get original sort order back.

Suppose you have a dataset as shown below:

To make sure you have a way to get back this data after sorting it, add a helper column and have a series of numbers in it (as shown below).

Here is a tutorial with different ways to add a column with numbers quickly

When you have the helper column in place, make sure you include it while sorting this dataset.

Suppose I sort this data based on the region and end up getting the data as shown below:

Now, if I want to go back to the original dataset, I can simply sort this data again, but based on the helper column (from low to high).

Simple.. isn’t it?

In case you don’t want the helper column to show, you can either hide it or create a backup and then delete it.

Some Common Issues While Sorting Data in Excel

At the beginning of this article, I showed you different ways to sort data in Excel (including sort buttons in the ribbon, right-click options, filter option, and the sort dialog box).

And to reiterate, using the sort dialog box minimizes the chances or any issues or error that may arise.

Now, let me show you what can go wrong when you use the sort button from the ribbon (the ones shown below)

Not Identifying the Column Headers

Suppose you have a dataset as shown below:

This looks like a decently formatted data set with headers clearly formatted with cell color and bold font.

So when you sort this data based on the names (using the sort buttons in the ribbon), you would expect the header to remain at the top and rest of the data to get sorted.

But what happens when you do it – the header is also considered as normal data and gets sorted (as shown below).

While Excel is smart enough to recognize headers, in this example, it failed to do so. When using the sort icon buttons in the ribbon, there was no way for you to manually specify that this data has headers.

Note: This issue occurs when I have the dataset and I add and format the headers and sort it. Normally, Excel would be smart enough to identify that there are headers in a dataset (especially when the data type of the header and the data in the column is different). But in this case, it failed to do so when I added the header and sorted right away. If I save this workbook, close it and reopen it, Excel somehow manages to identify the first row and header.

While this may not be an issue in most cases, there is still a chance when you use the sort icons in the ribbon, Using a dialog box eliminates this issue as you can specify that you have headers.

Not Identifying Blank Rows/Columns

This sorting issue is a little more complex – and a lot more common than you would imagine.

Suppose you have a dataset as shown below. Note that row number 6 is hidden (and it’s a blank row).

Now, if I select any cell in the first four rows of the data (the ones above the hidden blank row) and sort this data using the sort icon buttons, it would only sort the first four records on the data set (row 2 to 5). Similarly, if I select any cell in the dataset below the hidden blank row, it will only sort the last seven rows.

And unless you’re looking for it specifically, you’re likely to miss this horrible error.

How to make sure you don’t end up making this sorting error?

To make sure you don’t fall prey to this issue, you need to check your dataset before sorting it.

Select the entire dataset before sorting the data.

You can do that by selecting any cell in the dataset and then using the keyboard shortcut – Control + A.

If there are blank rows/columns in your dataset, the entire dataset won’t get selected. You can identify this by quickly scanning the outline of the selection.

If you see that there is some data left outside the selection, you can manually select it.

To make sure this issue is avoided, it’s best to first unhide all hidden rows and columns and then proceed to sort the data by selecting the entire data set or by first deleting the blank rows.

Partial Sorting (Based on the Last Name)

Sometimes, you may have a dataset that you want to sort based on part of the text.

For example, suppose I have the dataset as shown below and I want to sort this data based on the last name.

To do this, I need to separate this data so that I have only the last names in one column. When I have it, I can use that column to sort the data.

Below is a formula that can give me the last name:

=RIGHT(B2,LEN(B2)-FIND(" ",B2))

This will give you a result as shown below.

Now you can use the Last Name column to sort this data.

Once done, you can delete the last name column or hide it.

Note that the above formula works when you have names that has first and last name only and have no double spaces in between. In case you have names data that is different, you will have to adjust the formula. You can also use Text to Column to quickly split the names based on space character as the delimiter.

This is just one example of sorting based on partial data. Other examples may include sorting based on cities in an address or employee ID based on department codes.

Also, in case the text based on which you need to sort is at the beginning of the text, you can use the normal sort feature only.

Other Sorting Examples (Using Formula and VBA)

So far in this tutorial, I have covered the examples where we have used the in-built sorting functionality in Excel.

Automatically Sorting Using a Formula

When you use the in-built sort functionality and then make any change in the data set, you need to sort it again. The sort functionality is not dynamic.

In case you want to get a dataset that sorts automatically whenever there is any change, you can use the formulas to do it.

Note that to do this, you need to keep the original dataset and the sorted dataset separate (as shown below)

I have a detailed tutorial where I cover how to sort alphabetically using formulas. It shows two methods to do this – using helper columns and using an array formula.

Excel has also introduced the SORT dynamic array formula which can easily do this (without helper column or a complicated array formula). But since this is quite new, you may not have access to it in your version of Excel.

Sorting Using VBA

And finally, if you want to bypass all the sorting dialog box or other sorting options, you can use VBA to sort your data.

In the below example, I have a dataset that sorts the data when I double click on the column header. This makes it easy to sort and can be used in dashboards to make it more user-friendly.

Here is a detailed tutorial where I cover how to sort data using VBA and create something as shown above.

I have tried to cover a lot of examples to show you different ways you can sort data in Excel and all the things you need to keep in mind when doing it.

Hope you found this tutorial useful.

You May Also Like the following Excel Tutorials:

• Search and Highlight Data Using Conditional Formatting
• How to Sort Worksheets in Excel using VBA
• How to Create a Data Entry Form in Excel
• How to Compare Two Columns in Excel
• Excel TRIM Function to Remove Spaces and Clean Data
• Flip Data in Excel | Reverse Order of Data in Column/Row
• How to Shuffle a List of Items/Names in Excel? 2 Easy Formulas!

Microsoft Excel offers two widely used features: sorting and filtering. They are frequently used in data analysis to set up, organize, and subset your data according to particular criteria. You will discover how to sort data in Excel in this article. You will also get knowledge of data filtering.

What is Sorting in Excel?

Sorting is the process of arranging the strings or integers so that they can be placed in ascending or descending order. A text column can be sorted alphabetically (A-Z or Z-A). A number column can be sorted either from largest to smallest or from smallest to largest. A date and time column can alternatively be sorted from oldest to newest or from newest to oldest. Excel also has the option of sorting using a custom list or formats like cell color, font color, or icon set.

In this article, we will look into how we can do Sorting in Excel. 

Sorting a Single Column in Excel

Consider the Employee dataset depicted below. It has information about the employees, the Job Title, Department, Gender, and so on.

Let’s sort the data based on the Annual Salary of each Employee in descending order.

• You can choose the data and the shortcut key Ctrl + Shift + L to sort just one column.
• Select the List Annual Salary column’s downward pointing arrow. From largest to smallest, choose.

Sorting by Multiple Columns

Most often, only one column needs to be sorted. However, there can be times when you need to sort across many columns. Data can be sorted by several columns using advanced sorting methods.

Let’s sort the Employee dataset in ascending order of Annual Salary and descending order of Age.

• Step 1: Select the dataset > Click on the Sort option in the Data tab
• Step 2: To sort, select the Annual Salary column
• Step 3: Select Values under Sort On
• Step 4: Under Order, choose Smallest to Largest/A-Z
• Step 5: Select Add Level, and choose the Age column
• Step 6: Now Sort on Cell Values and Order it by Largest to Smallest/Z-A

Sorting Strings

Step 1: Formatting data for sorting.

Step 2: Converting data from unsorted to sorted order in ascending order. First, highlight the data which we want to sort.

Step 3: Then, click to Data on the Ribbon. In the Sort & Filter group, click Sort.

Step 4:- In the Sort box, select A to Z in order to sort the data in ascending order, then click Ok.

Now, data are sorted in ascending order.

Step 5: Now, if we want to sort in descending then we have to select Z to A in order to sort the data in descending order, then click OK.

Now, data are sorted in descending order.

Sorting Integers

Step 1: Formatting data for sorting.

Step 2: Converting data from unsorted to sorted order in ascending order.

First, highlight the data which we want to sort.

Step 3: Then, click to Data on the Ribbon. In the Sort & Filter group, click Sort.

Step 4: In the Sort box, select Smallest to Largest in Order to sort the data in ascending order, then click Ok.

Now, data are sorted in ascending order.

Step 5: Now, if we want to sort in descending then we have to select Largest to Smallest in Order to sort the data in descending order, then click Ok.

Now, data are sorted in descending order.

Custom Sorting

You can create your own custom order in Excel by using custom sorting. Data that cannot be sorted alphabetically or ascending may occasionally need to be sorted. To sort data, Excel enables you to make your own unique lists.

Suppose you want to sort the dataset based on Department in the following order – IT, Sales, Marketing

• Select the dataset > Click on the Sort option in the Data tab
• Choose the Department column to sort
• Under Sort On, select Cell Values
• Choose the Custom List, under Order
• In the Custom Lists dialog box, add the List entries separated by commas – IT, Sales, Marketing
• Click on Add > Select OK.

The result of the same is displayed below.

Data sorting using a single column was demonstrated. You were aware of how sorting functions when numerous columns are involved. Additionally, you learned about MS Excel’s capability for custom sorting.

FAQs on Sorting in Excel

1. What are the types of sorting in Excel?

There are 3 ways in which you can sort data in Excel.

• Sort A to Z (Sorts in Ascending Order)
• Sort Z to A (Sorts in Descending Order)
• Custom Sort (Sorts by applying different sort criteria)

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Introduction

As you add more content to a worksheet, organizing this information becomes especially important. You can quickly reorganize a worksheet by sorting your data. For example, you could organize a list of contact information by last name. Content can be sorted alphabetically, numerically, and in many other ways.

Optional: Download our practice workbook.

Watch the video below to learn more about sorting data in Excel.

Types of sorting

When sorting data, it’s important to first decide if you want the sort to apply to the entire worksheet or just a cell range.

• Sort sheet organizes all of the data in your worksheet by one column. Related information across each row is kept together when the sort is applied. In the example below, the Contact Name column (column A) has been sorted to display the names in alphabetical order.

  

• Sort range sorts the data in a range of cells, which can be helpful when working with a sheet that contains several tables. Sorting a range will not affect other content on the worksheet.

  

To sort a sheet:

In our example, we’ll sort a T-shirt order form alphabetically by Last Name (column C).

1. Select a cell in the column you want to sort by. In our example, we’ll select cell C2.

   

2. Select the Data tab on the Ribbon, then click the A-Z command to sort A to Z, or the Z-A command to sort Z to A. In our example, we’ll sort A to Z.

   

3. The worksheet will be sorted by the selected column. In our example, the worksheet is now sorted by last name.

   

To sort a range:

In our example, we’ll select a separate table in our T-shirt order form to sort the number of shirts that were ordered in each grade.

1. Select the cell range you want to sort. In our example, we’ll select cell range G2:H6.

   

2. Select the Data tab on the Ribbon, then click the Sort command.

   

3. The Sort dialog box will appear. Choose the column you want to sort by. In our example, we want to sort the data by the number of T-shirt orders, so we’ll select Orders.

   

4. Decide the sorting order (either ascending or descending). In our example, we’ll use Largest to Smallest.
5. Once you’re satisfied with your selection, click OK.

   

6. The cell range will be sorted by the selected column. In our example, the Orders column will be sorted from highest to lowest. Notice that the other content in the worksheet was not affected by the sort.

   

If your data isn’t sorting properly, double-check your cell values to make sure they are entered into the worksheet correctly. Even a small typo could cause problems when sorting a large worksheet. In the example below, we forgot to include a hyphen in cell A18, causing our sort to be slightly inaccurate.

Custom sorting

Sometimes you may find that the default sorting options can’t sort data in the order you need. Fortunately, Excel allows you to create a custom list to define your own sorting order.

To create a custom sort:

In our example below, we want to sort the worksheet by T-Shirt Size (column D). A regular sort would organize the sizes alphabetically, which would be incorrect. Instead, we’ll create a custom list to sort from smallest to largest.

1. Select a cell in the column you want to sort by. In our example, we’ll select cell D2.

   

2. Select the Data tab, then click the Sort command.

   

3. The Sort dialog box will appear. Select the column you want to sort by, then choose Custom List… from the Order field. In our example, we will choose to sort by T-Shirt Size.

   

4. The Custom Lists dialog box will appear. Select NEW LIST from the Custom Lists: box.
5. Type the items in the desired custom order in the List entries: box. In our example, we want to sort our data by T-shirt size from smallest to largest, so we’ll type Small, Medium, Large, and X-Large, pressing Enter on the keyboard after each item.

   

6. Click Add to save the new sort order. The new list will be added to the Custom lists: box. Make sure the new list is selected, then click OK.

   

7. The Custom Lists dialog box will close. Click OK in the Sort dialog box to perform the custom sort.

   

8. The worksheet will be sorted by the custom order. In our example, the worksheet is now organized by T-shirt size from smallest to largest.

   

Sorting levels

If you need more control over how your data is sorted, you can add multiple levels to any sort. This allows you to sort your data by more than one column.

To add a level:

In our example below, we’ll sort the worksheet by T-Shirt Size (Column D), and then by Homeroom Number (column A).

1. Select a cell in the column you want to sort by. In our example, we’ll select cell A2.

   

2. Click the Data tab, then select the Sort command.

   

3. The Sort dialog box will appear. Select the first column you want to sort by. In this example, we will sort by T-Shirt Size (column D) with the custom list we previously created for the Order field.
4. Click Add Level to add another column to sort by.

   

5. Select the next column you want to sort by, then click OK. In our example, we’ll sort by Homeroom # (column A).

   

6. The worksheet will be sorted according to the selected order. In our example, the orders are sorted by T-shirt size. Within each group of T-shirt sizes, students are sorted by homeroom number.

   

If you need to change the order of a multilevel sort, it’s easy to control which column is sorted first. Simply select the desired column, then click the Move Up or Move Down arrow to adjust its priority.

Challenge!

1. Open our practice workbook.
2. Click the Challenge tab in the bottom-left of the workbook.
3. For the main table, create a custom sort that sorts by Grade from Smallest to Largest and then by Camper Name from A to Z.
4. Create a sort for the Additional Information section. Sort by Counselor (Column H) from A to Z.
5. When you’re finished, your workbook should look like this:

   

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