Excel Sort

Sorting Data in Excel

Sorting in Excel helps organize data alphabetically, numerically, or by date. You can sort by one column, multiple columns, or use custom sorting options.

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1. How to Sort Data in Excel

Sort in Ascending or Descending Order

1. Select the data range (including headers, if applicable).
2. Go to Home → Click on Sort & Filter.
3. Choose:
   • Sort A to Z (Ascending)
   • Sort Z to A (Descending)

Example: Sorting Names Alphabetically

After sorting by Name (A to Z): | Name | Age | |--------|----| | Alice | 22 | | David | 35 | | Emma | 28 |

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2. Sorting by Multiple Columns

To sort by more than one column, follow these steps:

1. Select your data range.
2. Click Sort & Filter → Custom Sort.
3. In the Sort window:
   • Choose the first column to sort (e.g., "Department").
   • Click Add Level to sort by a second column (e.g., "Salary").
4. Click OK.

Example: Sorting Employees by Department (A to Z), then by Salary (Largest to Smallest)

After sorting:

1. Sort by Department (A-Z) → HR first, then IT
2. Sort by Salary (Largest to Smallest)
   | Name | Department | Salary | |--------|-----------|--------| | Alice | HR | 50000 | | David | HR | 45000 | | Charlie| IT | 70000 | | Bob | IT | 60000 |

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3. Sorting by Date

• Select the column with dates.
• Click Sort & Filter → Choose Sort Oldest to Newest or Newest to Oldest.

Example

After sorting (Oldest to Newest): | Name | Date Joined | |-------|-------------| | Bob | 2021-08-10 | | Emma | 2022-02-15 | | Alice | 2023-05-12 |

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4. Custom Sorting (e.g., Sorting by Month Name)

1. Select the column.
2. Click Sort & Filter → Custom Sort.
3. In the Order dropdown, choose Custom List.
4. Enter a list manually, like January, February, March...

Example: Sorting by Month Name

After sorting using a custom list:
| Name | Month | |-------|--------| | Bob | January| | Emma | February| | Alice | March |

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5. Sorting with Formulas

If you want to dynamically sort data, you can use Excel’s SORT function (available in Excel 365 and Excel 2019).

Example: Sorting a List Alphabetically

=SORT(A2:A10)

• This formula sorts column A in ascending order.

Sorting by Multiple Columns

=SORT(A2:C10, 2, 1)  

• This sorts range A2:C10 by the 2nd column in ascending order.

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Need help with a specific sorting issue? Let me know!

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