Sort Data in Excel

Sorting data in Excel is a fundamental task that helps you organize and analyze your information more efficiently. Whether you’re working with large datasets or a simple table, sorting can help you find specific values, organize information alphabetically or numerically, and spot trends.

In this tutorial, we’ll cover how to sort data in Excel, both in a single column and across multiple columns, and explore advanced sorting options.

Why Sort Data?

Sorting data is an essential tool for organizing large datasets in Excel. Whether you’re dealing with a list of employees, sales reports, or any other data, sorting helps you make sense of the information.

By arranging data alphabetically, numerically, or by date, you can easily find key values and analyze trends.

Sorting can also help you identify duplicates or outliers and prepare your data for further analysis or reporting.

Method 1: Sorting a Single Column

The most basic form of sorting in Excel is sorting a single column, either alphabetically or numerically. You can sort in ascending or descending order, depending on how you want to arrange your data.

Example: Let’s sort a list of employee names in alphabetical order.

Excel - Sort Data - Example
  1. Select the column you want to sort. In this example, select column A, which contains a list of employee names.
  2. Go to the Data tab in the Excel ribbon.
  3. Click on Sort Ascending to sort in ascending order (alphabetically from A to Z). To sort in descending order, click Sort Descending.

Now the names in column A will be sorted alphabetically. This method works similarly for numerical data, where Sort Ascending arranges numbers from smallest to largest, and Sort Descending arranges numbers from largest to smallest.

Method 2: Sorting Multiple Columns

If your data has multiple columns, you can sort by more than one column at a time. This is especially useful when working with complex datasets that need to be organized by more than one category.

Example: Let’s sort a dataset by Department (in alphabetical order) and then by Employee Name (in alphabetical order).

  1. Select the range of data you want to sort, including all the columns in the table. For example, select the range A1:B10 where column A contains department names and column B contains employee names.
  2. Go to the Data tab and click on Sort in the Sort & Filter group.
  3. In the Sort dialog box, choose the column to sort by first. For this example, select Department from the dropdown menu.
  4. Under Order, select A to Z for alphabetical sorting.
  5. Click Add Level to add a second sorting criterion. Select Employee Name as the second column to sort by, and choose A to Z under Order.
  6. Click OK to apply the sort.

Excel will first sort the data by the department name, and within each department, the employee names will be sorted alphabetically. This is a great way to organize your data by multiple criteria for better analysis.

Method 3: Sorting by Dates

Sorting by dates is similar to sorting by text or numbers. This is particularly helpful when working with time-sensitive data, such as project deadlines or sales reports.

Example: Let’s sort a list of sales transactions by date, from the oldest to the most recent.

  1. Select the column that contains the dates. For this example, select column B, which contains a list of dates.
  2. Go to the Data tab in the Excel ribbon.
  3. In the Sort & Filter group, click on Sort Oldest to Newest to sort the dates in ascending order. To sort in descending order, click Sort Newest to Oldest.

The dates in column B will now be sorted chronologically. This is useful for managing data that involves timelines, schedules, or historical data.

Method 4: Custom Sorting

Excel also allows you to create custom sorts, which is useful when sorting data by specific categories that don’t follow alphabetical or numerical order. For example, you might want to sort data by days of the week or by priority levels.

Example: Let’s sort a list of tasks by priority level (High, Medium, Low) instead of alphabetically.

  1. Select the column that contains the priority levels. For this example, select column C.
  2. Go to the Data tab and click Sort in the Sort & Filter group.
  3. In the Sort dialog box, select Priority from the Sort by dropdown menu.
  4. Under Order, click Custom List.
  5. In the Custom Lists dialog box, select High, Medium, Low or create your own custom order if needed.
  6. Click OK to apply the custom sort.

Excel will now sort the tasks based on priority level, with “High” tasks appearing first, followed by “Medium” and “Low.” Custom sorting is an effective way to manage data that doesn’t fit traditional sorting methods.

Method 5: Sorting by Color or Icon

If your data includes conditional formatting such as colored cells or icons, Excel allows you to sort based on those visual elements. This is useful when you want to prioritize data that has been highlighted with specific colors or symbols.

Example: Let’s sort a list of tasks by color, prioritizing tasks that are highlighted in red.

  1. Select the column that contains the colored cells. For this example, select column D, which contains tasks with different colored highlights.
  2. Go to the Data tab and click Sort in the Sort & Filter group.
  3. In the Sort dialog box, choose Cell Color under the Sort On dropdown.
  4. Choose the color you want to prioritize first (e.g., red) under Order.
  5. Click OK to apply the sort.

Excel will sort the tasks based on the selected color, grouping red-highlighted tasks at the top. Sorting by color or icon is a great way to visually prioritize data in your worksheet.

Tips for Sorting Data in Excel

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when sorting data in Excel:

  • Always select the full range of data to avoid sorting only a single column and leaving the rest of the data unsorted.
  • Use Sort & Filter buttons in the Data tab for easy access to sorting options.
  • When sorting data that contains headers, make sure to check the My data has headers option in the Sort dialog box to prevent the header row from being included in the sort.
  • Sorting by color or icon can help prioritize visually highlighted data.

Conclusion

Sorting data in Excel is a simple yet powerful way to organize and analyze your information. Whether you’re sorting by single or multiple columns, dates, custom lists, or even colors, Excel provides flexible options to fit your needs. Practice sorting data using the methods described in this tutorial to keep your worksheets organized and improve your workflow.